A growing body of scientific evidence supports paid family leave policies for new parents: studies have demonstrated benefits to public health (increased breastfeeding, on-time vaccinations, decreased infant hospitalizations, and improved child/parent bonding), socioeconomic wellbeing of families (improved labor force participation, decreased poverty and use of public support programs, and increased ability to arrange childcare), and employer performance (improved productivity and profitability, reduced business costs, and decreased turnover). Yet, as there is no federal paid leave policy in the United States, the landscape of paid leave is inconsistent and inequitable. Among all private-sector workers, just over a quarter (27%) of workers have access to paid family leave through their employer. Moreover, access varies widely by geography, industry, and income: only 7% of accommodation and food services workers have access to paid leave, and among the lowest 10% of all U.S. earners, only 5% of workers have access to paid leave.
This is in stark contrast to many of our economic peers: 30 out of 36 OECD countries currently provide some form of paid family leave, including our neighbors to both the north and the south. In the United States, 13 states have implemented mandatory paid family leave policies, starting with early moving states like California (2004) and New Jersey (2009), followed by more recent states including Rhode Island (2014), New York (2018), Washington, D.C. (2020), Washington state (2019-20), Massachusetts (2019-21), Connecticut (2021-22), Oregon (2023), Colorado (2023-24), Delaware (2025-26), Maryland (2024-26), Maine (2025-26), and Minnesota (2026). New Jersey also expanded their paid leave policy substantially in 2019 and 2020. Across states, policies differ substantially, with variation in length of time covered, maximum benefits, caps of salaries eligible for tax deduction, and job protection.
While each state with a paid leave policy has their own eligibility rules and benefits, New Jersey’s paid family leave is unique in its generosity: the benefits last for up to 12 weeks, the maximum weekly benefit rate is high at 85% of wages, the policy has been (in some form) in place for over a decade, and the definition of “family” is broader than in other states. Moreover, both women and men can take paid leave benefits to bond with a new child. The NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development created a “Maternity Care Timeline Tool” to help parents plan their leave timeline. All of these factors make New Jersey’s Paid Family Leave program an excellent case study to assess the impacts of paid leave on maternal and infant outcomes.