But that could change, at least if presidential campaign promises become reality. During the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday, Minnesota governor Tim Walz highlighted that he and his running mate, Democratic presidential candidate and vice president Kamala Harris, are prioritizing national paid family leave. In Minnesota, he signed a bill mandating companies have 12 to 20 weeks of paid family and medical leave.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been more equivocal in his stance. As president, he approved paid family leave for federal workers in 2019, but a broader bill he supported in 2020 left states leeway and only enabled employees to get paid leave by reducing future benefits.

As it stands, almost one in four American mothers return to work within two weeks of giving birth. Only 15% of U.S. companies with under 100 workers make paid family leave available, and less than 30% of American workers at private companies have access to paid family leave.

Until the federal law changes, companies can take it upon themselves to change their policies—and brands with missions aligned with promoting healthy parents and children are pushing them to do so. Infant formula brand Bobbie has launched a campaign called Take Our Leave that, via social media advocacy and a policy playbook, shows how even small businesses can accommodate parents’ needs.

The campaign has tapped “Queer Eye” star and father of two Tan France as a spokesman. Professional tennis player Naomi Osaka, who welcomed her first child last year, is a partner on Bobbie’s adjacent Parents Push Harder initiative encouraging people to write their representatives about paid leave.

The initiative also supplies parents with grants of $580, the monthly amount guaranteed to families if the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, a bill introduced in May last year that would give parents 12 weeks of partial income, passes. Around 40 brands are involved in the initiative and over 200 families have received grants.

Bobbie’s company policy provides birthing parents and partners 16 weeks of paid leave and up to eight months of unpaid leave. It adds a week of paid leave for every week a baby spends in the NICU, a policy inspired by an employee who delivered prematurely.

“We are the only mom-founded and -led infant formula brand in the U.S.,” says Bobbie co-founder and CEO Laura Modi. “Thinking about what it takes to support parents in the workplace was very top of mind even getting Bobbie launched…We have steadily been north of two-thirds parents on our team from the beginning of the days to today, where we have 150 people on the team as well, and most of those parents have either a baby or a toddler or both.”

Ritual is among the brands that have sponsored grants as part of the Parents Push Harder campaign. The supplement brand’s policies allow for 20 weeks of fully paid leave, plus extra flex time and monthly childcare stipends.

Founder and CEO Katerina Schneider, who started the supplement brand while pregnant after working in the music, entertainment and finance industries, says, “I wanted to make sure that I was creating a company that valued moms and moms’ health and parental leave because it was something I didn’t feel like was valued in previous places that I worked…Paid leave for new moms is really the ultimate form of healthcare.”

Ritual has around 130 people on staff, approximately 10% of whom have been or will be on paid leave this year. Schneider says, “It might seem challenging knowing that 10%-plus of your workforce may leave, but I think it’s the right thing to do.”

To make it easier for people to take time off, she continues, “It’s important that early-stage companies figure out structures where they’re training their staff with folks that can pick up some of the work” as well as “systems in place to welcome people back,” since it can be jarring to return to work after five months devoted to parenting. If parents need to take their kids to appointments in the middle of the day, for instance, workplaces should incorporate schedule flexibility.

Businesses worry about the cost of paid leave programs, but Modi underscores the ability to attract and retain employees is worth it. “When we launched Take Our Leave publicly—and we did take a pretty public stand on it—we saw our recruiting pipeline double,” she says. “Bobbie became known as a place that supported parents, and we saw people applying.”

Schneider highlights that it’s not just the number of applicants that jumps due to a paid family leave policy. She suggests the quality of work increases, too. “I will hire new parents, moms, all day long,” says Schneider. “I feel like they’re some of the best employees that we have. They work really hard, they’re empathetic, they are so multidimensional. I think that some of the work that comes with being a new parent is so challenging that it’s almost like getting an MBA, and I feel like we get to be the benefactors of that.”

Schneider argues it hurts businesses and the national economy if employees are unable to care for their children.  She asserts paid family leave should be a focus of the presidential election and state governments. At present,13 states require family and medical leave.

Education about what people go through postpartum is crucial for governments and companies to understand why paid leave is needed, according to Schneider. She has spoken to women who’ve experienced horrendous consequences of poor parental leave policies such as having to go to work when they were still bleeding from childbirth or couldn’t use stairs.

“It’s quite traumatic to think that, in this country, people are literally being forced [to support] their families on their feet in some incredibly vulnerable [situations]—and this is one of the most nutritionally demanding stages of people’s lives as well,” she says. “Women are not taking care of themselves at all. So, it’s shocking…It has a lifelong impact on future generations.”

Jessica Gould, physician, co-founder and owner of Taste Cherie, maker of cookie mix that assists with lactation, agrees. “This country is not doing enough to support families,” she says. “When paid parental leave is unavailable, families are often forced to make difficult choices. Many may feel compelled to return to work before they are ready, compromising their health and the bonding time with their newborn. This can lead to increased stress, anxiety and even postpartum depression, which can affect the entire family unit. The lack of paid leave can also have a long-term impact on a family’s financial stability.”

Taste Cherie has signed on to the Parents Push Harder initiative. Through it, Gould says the brand was “introduced to a mother who never received paid leave and who remained as yet unable to return to work. It was our pleasure to be able to fund a grant to support her and her family, and we look forward to helping more families in the future.”

She elaborates, “Those of us who have a platform—whether it’s in the workplace, on social media, or in our communities—have a responsibility to advocate for universal paid parental leave. By raising our voices, sharing personal stories and supporting policies that prioritize the well-being of families, we can help create a cultural shift that values parenting and recognizes the importance of family health and bonding.”

Thimble, a brand specializing in patches to alleviate pain from needle procedures, is another Parents Push Harder member and participated in Paid Leave for All, an effort that delivered over 50,000 signatures to Congress in support of paid leave. Founder and dermatologist Manju Dawkins believes it’s essential for federal law to start funding paid leave so that it doesn’t impose unfeasible expenses on companies. “Without federal paid leave, there is a significant burden on businesses to care for their teams’ wellbeing,” says Dawkins. “Unfortunately for small businesses, it is extremely expensive, and the impact can be devastating.”

The advocacy paid leave proponents are doing may be having an impact. Four out of five women in a YouGov poll conducted for “Glamour” magazine said this issue will impact their vote in the presidential election. Last year, Democratic polling firm found 85% of voters in battleground states favor paid family and medical leave.

The election’s outcome could affect the lives of many working parents and have a ripple effect on the country. “When we support the act of loved ones taking care of their loved ones, the entire society benefits,” says Dawkins. “We’ll end up with a happier, healthier population.”