OPINION: Why Virginia families deserve paid leave

Ana walked into my pediatric clinic in Northern Virginia with her six-week-old daughter. As we weighed her baby for the fourth time this month, we both winced when we saw the number stubbornly unchanged from the last visit. Ana, herself a child care provider, returned to work just two weeks after giving birth.

Neighbors and relatives stepped in, but the infant struggled to take a bottle. We discussed trying different nipples, positioning techniques, and fortifying formulas. But we couldn’t give this baby what she really needed–her mom. 

Paid Family and Medical Leave, which guarantees wages for parents like Ana, is a basic protection that only 27% of Americans can access. Despite vast US wealth and purported commitment to family values, we are the only industrialized nation without a national paid leave policy. 

In the absence of a federal mandate, some states have taken up the initiative. As of 2025, 13 states and the District of Columbia have passed or implemented varying paid leave laws. Our state of Virginia, on the other hand, has fallen behind, but it’s not for a lack of trying. 

Recently, the Virginia General Assembly has passed paid leave policies twice. In 2024, Senate Bill 373 would have provided 8 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child. In 2025, House Bill 2531 would have guaranteed up to 12 weeks of paid leave by creating an insurance program funded through employer and employee contributions. 

Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed both bills. He stated that he prefers to “promote voluntary, private sector paid family leave solutions.” Youngkin cited South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas as some of the state economies that he hopes to emulate, all of which have some of the worst infant mortality rates in the US. 

As a result of his vetoes, four in five Virginia workers continue to choose between the health of their families or earning wages. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows employees to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave without being fired. Yet half of the country’s workforce lacks access to even this minimal protection due to eligibility restrictions.

But as other states and nearly every other country have demonstrated, it doesn’t have to be this way. Paid leave is a basic societal investment that benefits children, parents, and the economy. Paid leave policies are associated with lower rates of infant hospital admissions and child mortality. Parents are more likely to breastfeed and vaccinate their children. Rates of postpartum depression decrease. Fathers with paid leave report increased emotional attachment to their children. 

Paid leave also bolsters the economy. One study found that businesses in New Jersey and California saw less employee turnover after statewide implementation of paid leave policies. Business productivity in these states increased by 5%.  A family’s individual financial status also improves in the long term because parents can remain in the paid workforce. It is estimated that a universal paid leave policy could reduce poverty in American families by 16%.  

In November of this year, Virginians will elect a new governor. 

Candidate Abigail Spanberger recently stated that, “Virginians shouldn’t have to choose between keeping their paycheck and having a child.” 

Candidate Winsome Earle-Sears has yet to comment on her stance on paid leave in Virginia. 

Both women have promised to support families with affordable childcare — Virginia currently has over 10,000 children on its waitlist for childcare subsidies. 

Ana and her daughter deserve time to bond. They deserve the health benefits of paid leave—breastfeeding, fewer illnesses, and better mental health. And when Ana is ready to return to work, she deserves high-quality childcare to give her peace of mind and to help her baby thrive. Americans all deserve basic common-sense policies to support families. While we wait for our country to catch up to the rest of the world, let’s make paid leave a reality in Virginia.