Paid Leave in 2025: Three Crucial Battlegrounds for Working People and Families

The start of 2025 has been marked by chaos and disruption. Raging wildfires. Surging flu and norovirus cases. Escalating threats to immigrants and transgender and nonbinary people, reproductive rights, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and even basic health care. As these crises collide, one essential need becomes clear: the ability to care for ourselves and our loved ones.

Still, in 2025, access to paid leave from work to provide care to our families or receive care ourselves is rare and disparate in the United States. Without national legislation, the vast majority of U.S. workers lack paid family leave through their jobs, and most service workers still don’t have paid sick leave. Some states and localities make paid leave available through public policies but most do not. Meanwhile, federal unpaid leave for serious family and medical needs covers just 56 percent of all workers and even smaller shares of Latine, immigrant, lower-paid, and rural workers. A patchwork of public and private policies creates massive gaps, leaving tens of millions of workers and their families—including in regions with some of the most dire health and economic needs.

People—and many businesses seeking to navigate a complex environment—need stable, guaranteed access to paid leave more than ever. But in an unpredictable political climate, will we receive it?

Across the federal, state, and private sector policy landscapes, there are both reasons for hope and warning signs of major rollbacks. Here’s a look ahead to areas of opportunity and threat—and tips for engaging in the fight to win inclusive, comprehensive paid leave and other care-friendly policies even in challenging times.

1 | Federally Guaranteed Paid Leave: A Dream Deferred

As President Trump stepped into office last week, he took immediate steps to overhaul and eliminate core government functions—while Republicans craft a budget proposal that includes threats to health insurance coverage, food assistance, and access to housing. Given this political climate, it’s safe to say that the chances of Congress creating and funding a new program to guarantee national paid family and medical leave in 2025 are slim. While advocates should not stop promoting the value of comprehensive paid leave, we will also be called to (and must) help save essential existing public programs. Resistance to comprehensive paid leave by those in power is deeply disappointing, especially in light of analysis showing the value of a national paid leave program in lowering poverty rates, boosting the financial well-being of families, and reducing the use of other public benefit programs—and longstanding overwhelming public support.

The federal fight for paid leave this year will instead amount to debates about incremental federal paid leave initiatives. In the best case, new federal initiatives could support and improve the implementation of the country’s state-level paid leave programs and build infrastructure that could ultimately help to support a nationwide program. But not all proposals will be helpful—and all require evaluation against key criteria, including:

• Do proposals provide more people with new access to paid family and medical leave? Employer tax credits, for example, may not lead to more, or better, paid leave. A federal employer tax credit for paid leave—which is up for renewal in 2025—was claimed by just 1,230 companies nationwide in 2020, and nearly all of the $101 million spent went to high-revenue companies. Unfortunately, there are no disclosure requirements about the duration, quality, or scope of paid leave provided, leaving us unsure whether tax dollars are subsidizing existing employer programs or expanding workers’ access to paid leave.
• Do proposals create new business opportunities and revenue streams tilted toward corporate interests? Proposals that create a required role for private insurers, payroll processors, and third-party administrators could divert revenue away from public paid leave programs and worker benefits.
• Are benefits meaningful? Paid leave benefits that are truly effective cover enough time and offer enough wage replacement to be useful and equitable for all parents and caregivers.
• What other motives are at play? Paid leave should be available and accessible to support all families. Given the actions of the new administration already this year, we will need to watch for policies designed to foster white natalism by excluding immigrants and limiting eligibility in ways that disproportionately affect workers of color, or even justify restrictions on reproductive autonomy or abortion access.

2 | States Leading The Way

On the bright side, many states offer opportunities for progress toward paid leave. Ten states including the District of Columbia now have paid leave programs paying benefits to eligible workers—with enhanced benefits rolling out in 2025 in California (increasing wage replacement to make paid leave more accessible to lower- and middle-wage workers), Rhode Island (offering longer duration for parental and family caregiving leave), and New York (introducing a new, separate program offering prenatal leave to pregnant workers). Four more states—Delaware, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota—are gearing up for new paid leave benefits set to start in 2026.

Several states are also considering new paid leave laws. Hawaii, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have active legislative campaigns, and several other states will introduce and seek to advance comprehensive and more limited bills. New coalitions are forming in a wide range of states to build an evidentiary and organizing base in support of paid leave.

There are also risks on the horizon: Business interests are aiming to roll back hard-won paid sick days protections in Michigan and Missouri, and some states will consider paid family and medical leave bills that simply authorize the sale of private insurance without guaranteeing that any workers actually receive paid leave—essentially checking a box without addressing the problems that working people and families face without paid leave.

All of us—advocates, impacted families, business owners, and researchers—have a role to play in advancing paid leave at the state level.

• For individuals: Share personal experiences; help build business, health, and economic cases; or educate lawmakers: Connect with a local coalition or a national organization to get started. (Or reach out to the Better Life Lab—we’re happy to connect you!)
• For researchers and policymakers: In areas where policies that cover public-sector workers exist, study the value of these initiatives and capture implementation lessons.
• For advocates: Share research on the value of paid leave for populations within your communities, as well as policy design and implementation lessons from other states. In states and localities where private insurance laws have passed, examine the impacts of these and share insights about improvements or alternative policies.

By leveraging our collective efforts, we can strengthen efforts to ensure paid leave becomes a reality for more and more workers.

3 | Corporate Shifts that Could Cost Us All

Another area to watch for paid leave progress (or threats) is in the private sector. The elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in corporate America, especially among companies like Amazon and Meta that once positioned themselves as DEI leaders, are deeply concerning. Relatedly, the rollback of flexible work policies will limit the ability of people with parenting and caregiving responsibilities and people with serious health issues or disabilities to fully thrive at their jobs. This anti-DEI wave will ultimately backfire: Beyond being bad practice, creating barriers to entry and retention will, as research suggests, negatively influence companies' culture and hurt their bottom lines.

Private companies that value inclusive policies can take the lead in fortifying their commitments to equitable policies, inclusive workplaces that are accessible to all, and diverse workforces. Fortunately, companies like Costco, Apple, Microsoft, J.P. Morgan, and Pinterest already are. Organizations that research corporate practices, such as JUST Capital and others, can continue to show the value of paid leave and caregiving policies and provide examples of companies doing these things well. This is essential not just to companies themselves but to the broader economy because productivity and GDP will decline without policies that support labor force attachment and engagement.

Leaders who hold power within corporate America, researchers who continue to study DEI, cultural influencers, independent media, labor unions, and working people all play a critical role in promoting inclusive workplace policies. By raising public awareness, they can help build a strong counter-narrative and ensure those impacted know they are not alone.

Organizing and Storytelling Can Drive Culture and Policy Change

When people get involved in shaping policy debates, change can be powerful. This past election cycle, advocates organized successful ballot campaigns to win paid sick time in Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska. In the year ahead, there will be important moments to engage in both proactive and defensive fights. Get involved, for example, with organizations within the Care Can’t Wait coalition and Paid Leave for All, working at the federal and state levels. Policy and research organizations (including New America’s Better Life Lab and New Practice Lab) can serve as connectors to active campaigns, share best practices with policymakers, or channel stories and enthusiasm to the most effective places. Organizations like Main Street Alliance, Small Business Majority, and Small Businesses for America’s Future are working to organize and empower small businesses and educate policymakers. Lived experiences of business owners and workers can also show the value of paid leave and care policies and help push back on harmful narratives that turn back the clock on gender, racial, and economic justice.

Stories matter at a broader scale, too. Narratives on screen and in the media that capture the realities of people managing work, family, and care can provide examples of possible futures where people are supported in their work-family lives. That’s the aim of New America’s Re-Scripting Gender, Work, Family, and Care initiative—bolstered by research showing that TV and film viewers want to see their lives reflected on screen and elements of a more aspirational future. When TV and film meet journalism, online storytelling, and organizing, narrative change can accelerate cultural and policy progress.

We can’t predict what 2025 will bring. The fights ahead will require short-term action and long-term commitment. But everyone who believes that the United States should better support working people and families can contribute to the vision of a country that truly values both work and care.

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