Join the Movement

Thank you for joining this national movement fighting for paid family and medical leave, paid sick and safe days, and affordable childcare. We are excited to take action with you as we build the care economy and move closer to the care we all need and deserve.

We think this moment is critical in our country and that we will soon see a federal policy on paid leave. Check out some of our State Leaders who have taken action on leave:
Nija Phelps
I became a care voter and activist to change the broken system. In 2014 my husband and I quit our jobs in Indiana and moved to Michigan to care for his mother, who was struggling with diabetes and needed 24-hour care for a few months. She was later diagnosed with cancer. If we’d had access to paid family and medical leave at the time, we might have been able to provide care without leaving our homes or jobs.
- Nija Phelps, Family Values at Work Action
Nija Story
In 2014 my husband and I quit our jobs in Indiana and moved to Michigan to care for his mother, who was struggling with diabetes and needed 24-hour care for a few months. . If we’d had access to paid family and medical leave at the time, we might have been able to provide care without leaving our homes or jobs. Three years later, she was diagnosed with cancer and she came to live with us in Connecticut, and we continued to care for her in our home.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, I was pregnant for the first time. Shortly after learning, I was pregnant, I was furloughed for about a year. When our baby came, my husband was able to take six weeks of paid family and medical leave. But after that, he was required to work in-person half of the time. We didn’t feel comfortable with the level of COVID exposure that was inevitable. We had the care of our newborn and his immuno-compromised mother, but we did what we had to do to keep his job. And he went back to work.
My family has needed comprehensive paid family and medical leave over the years. We need quality, affordable childcare for our daughter right now. As a result, these issues have brought me to action. I volunteered for a local organization fighting for care, worked to get Paid Family and Medical Leave passed in Connecticut and continued to educate voters and support candidates who will ensure that everyone has the freedom to care – I had no choice but to turn my care story into action.
- Nija Phelps, Family Values at Work Action
We think this moment is critical in our country and that we will soon see a federal policy on paid leave. Check out some of our State Leaders who have taken action on leave:
a father reading bedtime stories to his two daughters.
In 2015 and 2016, I was part of a team of folks with the Coalition for Social Justice and Raise Up Massachusetts who collectively gathered more than 130K signatures for our Paid Family Leave ballot measure. I was just a volunteer back then, and spent hours in front of grocery stores and at public events circulating petitions. I cared about paid leave but never knew I would actually need it. Until I did.
- Diane Painter, Coalition for Social Justice (CSJ), MA
Read Full Story here
In 2015 and 2016, I was part of a team of folks with the Coalition for Social Justice and Raise Up Massachusetts who collectively gathered more than 130K signatures for our Paid Family Leave ballot measure. I was just a volunteer back then, and spent hours in front of grocery stores and at public events circulating petitions. I cared about paid leave but never knew I would actually need it. Until I did. In early 2017 my 78 year-old dad got severely sick and I had to fly from MA to ID (2500 miles) to care for him with no idea how long I’d be gone. I didn’t have paid sick time because of my employment status, and paid leave hadn’t been passed yet. Most of my savings went to pay for the one-way plane ticket. While caring for him, I was scared I wouldn’t have enough money for the plane ticket home, and even started planning which of my friends I’d have to call and ask to clean out my apartment if I couldn’t pay my rent. When I did get home, I had to take a third job to make up for the bills and debt I’d accumulated while I cared for him. Massachusetts passed paid leave and I’m glad that I fought for it but my sisters in ID don’t have this state policy so it’s all really personal. This is why I’m excited that we are seeing momentum in paid leave on a federal level because no one should be punished for caring for a loved one, for doing the right thing.
- Diane Painter, Coalition for Social Justice (CSJ), MA
We think this moment is critical in our country and that we will soon see a federal policy on paid leave. Check out some of our State Leaders who have taken action on leave:
a mother and son smiling in front of a building.
Racism, classism and misogyny work together to hold our communities back. When we work together for policy solutions like paid family and medical leave, childcare, healthcare and more, we can create a system that ensures none of our community is falling, or being pushed through the cracks.
- Destie Hohman Sprague, Maine Women's Lobby and Education Fund
We think this moment is critical in our country and that we will soon see a federal policy on paid leave. Check out some of our State Leaders who have taken action on leave:
portrait of Salandra Benton.
I am a mother who sat next to her son in a hospital bed for 12 days due to an unknown illness. The doctor told him that full recovery meant taking off from work for at least a year to improve his heart rate. He did not have paid leave; he could have become homeless. I also knew a young mother who died from COVID-19 because she continued to work to put food on the table – her children are now motherless. I fight because no one should have to go through this in the richest nation in the world.
- Salandra Benton, Florida Sister Lead, Sister Vote
We think this moment is critical in our country and that we will soon see a federal policy on paid leave. Check out some of our State Leaders who have taken action on leave:
mother and son laughing while sharing glances at each other.
I do this work because I am a mama of a disabled teenager, because I am a caregiver. My self advocacy started because I was a young, black, single mother navigating the healthcare and employment system that didn’t offer time off to care for my son. I do this work because I’m passionate about organizing and mobilizing so others aren’t affected by the same systemic blockage I’ve fought to overcome; it’s personal for me.
- Aisha Wells, Mothering Justice Action Fund, MI
Read Aisha’s Full Story Here
I do this work because I am a mama of a disabled teenager, because I am a caregiver. My self advocacy started because I was a young, black, single mother navigating the healthcare and employment system that didn’t offer time off to care for my son. I do this work because I’m passionate about organizing and mobilizing so others aren’t affected by the same systemic blockage I’ve fought to overcome; it’s personal for me. I fight so hard so that single moms from Detroit and other black and brown neighborhoods, who have children with disabilities, know there are laws, policies and people who work tirelessly to support their loved ones.
- Aisha Wells, Mothering Justice Action Fund, MI

Share your story

How are you building power around time to care?

You are not alone and your story helps signify the urgency to act at the local, state, and national level. Please use this form to submit your story about your experience with or without paid sick or safe days and affordable family leave to Family Values @ Work Action.

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CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF
CONGRESS

Your voice matters! Don’t wait one more minute, make your voice heard on paid time to care and affordable childcare. Demanding action from your member of Congress is a simple yet effective way to take action today!

View Sample Script

Sample Script:

Hello, my name is (your name) from (city), and I’m calling because our nation lacks any form of universal childcare and now that the pandemic emergency funding for childcare has ended, our young ones, childcare providers and programs are greatly affected.

I know this well, as I have been personally affected by the lack of childcare (2 sentences about why this matters to you). We’re asking you to help pass the Childcare Stabilization Funding Act in Congress to fill the $16B gap in childcare across the country.

 

As my Congressional Leader, I need you to :

Recognize that working families shouldered the nation’s care and essential needs during the pandemic while we kept the economy moving forward.

Two-thirds of women with young children are workers fueling America’s economy in order to support their families. Nearly half are their family’s primary breadwinners. Congress must act to solve child care to support working women:

  • Provide meaningful funding for universal childcare, including support for childcare workers to have a living wage.
  • Our child care problem won’t fix itself. The cost of child care has been rising faster than inflation for years -and will continue to rise steeply absent public investment. These rising prices squeeze families, crowd out other expenses, and push parents – especially mothers – out of the labor force.
  • The Childcare Stabilization Act is a temporary fix for the current crises – your support will help to save childcare while we build the universal system every family and child deserves.

Now is the time for us to emerge a stronger nation, one that values all of us and that will open the door to a new reality founded on family and care.

Thank you.

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Donate today to support our mission around building a care economy. With your donation, we will build capacity for organizers and activists on the ground across 15 states. Our leaders across the country work every day to build power around paid time to care and childcare to make these policies a reality at the local, state, and national levels. We are working together to build the momentum for an equitable care economy. Thank you for your generosity.

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