Why America Needs A National Paid Parental Leave Policy

Abby McCloskey and Emily Wielk, Bipartisan Policy Center, November 17, 2025

Executive Summary

Most American parents of young children are working. Yet the United States remains the only Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country without a national paid parental leave policy. As a result, parents are unable to spend the necessary quality and bonding time with their children after birth or adoption. Although private-sector companies and government on the local, state, and federal levels have moved to improve access to parental leave, significant gaps remain for millions of working families and their children. This creates economic disruptions and health challenges that have ripple effects across society. This issue brief lays out a vision for why working parents not only want but need a federal baseline standard of paid parental leave.

Section I covers the various socioeconomic benefits of providing paid parental leave, including improved infant and maternal health, greater financial security for families, and improved economic returns that exceed program costs. Recent research estimates that the societal returns for even a modest public paid parental leave program outstrip the costs by an average of 30-to-1. A paid parental leave program generally costs less than other benefits that the United States provides for workers temporarily out of work, and meaningful policy can still be done in a constrained fiscal environment.

Section II highlights the Bipartisan Policy Center’s original research with Cygnal to uncover what parents of very young children (under 5 years old) want. BPC found that most parents prefer paid parental leave during the first year of a child’s life over other policies like $5,000 of cash benefits or tax credits. This is perhaps a surprising finding given the significant political attention paid to tax credits in recent months, but it is an important insight for policymakers to consider as they craft policy solutions. The challenges facing parents are not only financial, but around the structures of work and care.

Section III outlines a federal paid leave program that would provide a guaranteed baseline level of support to all new parents. While many states and businesses have expanded paid leave policies—and paid leave reform bills have been introduced and passed in Congress this year—gaps in coverage still remain for many workers. Based on the available economic evidence and parental surveys, an important next step for businesses and government is to set a floor of support under which no working parent falls. Setting a common baseline of protection for new parents and their babies would represent a fiscally modest first step to a more comprehensive family and medical leave program while still providing significant benefits to families with minimal workplace disruptions. Sustained bipartisan momentum continues to pave the way for reform that will help millions of parents access protected, paid leave to care for a new child.

Our cultural obsession with anti-aging is distracting us from deeper pursuits

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, November 6, 2025

“They say that 40 is the new 20. This birthday girl is not so sure.

For me, this birthday has been a long time coming. I was voted “oldest looking” in high school, which I took as a sign of maturity, but let’s be honest, I’m still not over it.

My bedtime keeps shifting forward. I tell myself that’s to align with that of my children’s schedules, and it’s because I’m getting tired earlier. I’ve already established a relationship with a GI doctor to do my plumbing work for the next decade and beyond. I do my morning walks with a weighted vest; it’s never too early to fight off osteoporosis. And after two martinis, I’m guaranteed to wake up around 2 a.m.

So I’ve been feeling this one for a while. But it’s done strange voodoo on me anyway. It was a few months ago when I started noticing the feeling of a crushing deadline, one I normally get for conferences or columns, but this time the source of the pressure was, well, mysterious.”

Democrats, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Abby McCloskey, November 6, 2025

“By any metric, Tuesday’s elections were a blowout. Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani is the new mayor of New York City. The new Democratic governors in Virginia and New Jersey won with double-digit margins. Voter turnout was off the charts.

Democrats’ wins speak to Trump’s unpopularity, the chaos that has accompanied his administration and voters’ continuing frustration with persistently high prices. The GOP has been warned.

But a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, Democrats are still at a structural disadvantage. During the Biden era, Republicans began to outnumber Democrats nationwide, upending an advantage Democrats had held since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Last year, a larger share of Americans identified as Republican than at any time since 1991.”

The GOP’s Evangelical Base Needs a Word of Caution

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, November 2, 2025

“Rarely, if ever, in American history has political party allegiance been so closely correlated with religious beliefs. A White evangelical churchgoer in our country is now 82% likely to be a Trump supporter, according to the Pew Research Center, meaning that churches are also increasingly politically homogeneous. There may be understandable reasons why this has become the case — Democrats have not exactly welcomed Christians with open arms — but it limits the interactions of people in the same faith with different political viewpoints, making it easier to conflate godliness with voting patterns.

I’m reminded of some wise words from half a century ago: “The danger of mistaking our merely natural, though perhaps legitimate, enthusiasms for holy zeal, is always great,” wrote theological legend C.S. Lewis.”

Democrats, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, November 6, 2025

“By any metric, Tuesday’s elections were a blowout. Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani is the new mayor of New York City. The new Democratic governors in Virginia and New Jersey won with double-digit margins. Voter turnout was off the charts.

Democrats’ wins speak to Trump’s unpopularity, the chaos that has accompanied his administration and voters’ continuing frustration with persistently high prices. The GOP has been warned.

But a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, Democrats are still at a structural disadvantage. During the Biden era, Republicans began to outnumber Democrats nationwide, upending an advantage Democrats had held since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Last year, a larger share of Americans identified as Republican than at any time since 1991.”

Even Texans Think Some of These Immigration Policies Go Too Far

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, October 29, 2025

“You have to hand it to the Trump Administration. Illegal border crossings along the US–Mexico border are at their lowest since 1970. That’s a welcome change from the Biden Administration, when officials denied the obvious problems at the southern border.

Turns out, Americans didn’t like the Democrats’ free-for-all. The vast majority of Americans (77%) believe that we are at a better place on illegal immigration relative to last year, according to polling by the center-left organization Third Way.

But instead of announcing victory, the Administration keeps going. It has gone, and is going, too far — even according to those in the border states who presumably would feel the brunt of illegal immigration the most.”

New IVF Policies Bring Hope — and Moral Questions

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, October 23, 2025

“Last week, President Trump released new federal guidance encouraging private employers to include fertility treatments in their insurance coverage and announcing an agreement to reduce the cost of some IVF-associated drugs.

For those dealing with the disheartening struggles of infertility, this is good news. Republican Senator Katie Britt said it was the “most pro-IVF thing that any president in the history of the United States of America has done.”

But from a regulatory perspective, it’s more gas in a car without a steering wheel. We barely have regulations on the books about IVF. Yet IVF is the opening gate for a new world of reproductive technologies, ethical quagmires and designer babies.. . .”

McCloskey: Will it be the Wild West for designer babies?

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 12, 2025

“Reproductive technologies for animals are moving fast in our state. A physician friend recently directed me to a website of a Dallas company touting the ability to bring animals back from extinction, Jurassic Park style. A rural Texas clinic was featured in a recent article in The Atlantic for its ability to clone racehorses, cattle for the best meat and beloved family pets.

Reproductive technologies are advancing for our own species, too. In vitro fertilization miraculously allows for insemination in a petri dish. Doctors can scan embryos for some diseases and sex. But this technology is not the pinnacle, but the base of an enormous mountain, the top of which reaches godlike, dare I say Babel-like, heights.”

America Is Getting Used to Broken Government

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, October 13, 2025

“None of this is good for functional governance — playing to the parties’ extreme wings, failing to pass budgets on time, threatening the paychecks of federal workers, or using the shutdown as an excuse for more mass firings of public servants.

And what’s most worrisome is the least tangible: The public is getting used to the idea that there’s little difference between a functional deliberative body and a hostage-taking one. Because even when something dramatic like a shutdown happens, it feels like nothing to most of us.

The less government breakdown seems to matter, the more it all feels like sport. The more it feels like sport, the more dysfunction and theatrics we’ll not only tolerate, but desire — because, what’s the harm?”

Even GOP Voters Are Souring on This Economy

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, October 10, 2025

• Majorities in both parties think the economy is not good, with only 44% of Republicans and 10% of Democrats thinking the economy is excellent or good.

• Inflation has mellowed but remains elevated, and hiring remains slow, with costs like groceries and housing still high, and credit tight.

• Most Republicans think President Trump's policies are either having no impact or making the economy worse, with 53% holding this view, and the share of Republicans who expect the economy to be better next year is rapidly declining.

Can the World Handle Having Fewer Moms

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, October 4, 2025

“Demographers at the United Nations predict that the number of humans on Earth will begin shrinking as soon as 2080 — the culmination of a global decline in birthrates that began two generations ago. I keep thinking about what this shift means for moms.

Fewer women are having children. Those who do are having smaller families than previous generations. This trend transcends the norms of any one culture or place.

The shift away from motherhood is happening slowly — but surely. It’s a source of growing bipartisan concern. New Pew Research polling finds that over half of Americans (53%) now say fewer people choosing to have children in the future would negatively impact the United States, a six-point increase from last year.”

MAHA Wants Breastfeeding. Its Moms Should Demand Paid Leave.

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, September 29, 2025

“Here’s a big, pressing problem: America’s children are not healthy. Not by any metric of chronic disease, obesity or mental health. It’s more than overdiagnosing and food dyes. It feels deep and systemic and beyond parental control. We’re not really sure what to do about it, for the kids or for ourselves. But the trend lines are moving in the wrong direction.

Given the complexity of the problem, the Make Our Children Healthy Again strategy released this month feels a bit like spaghetti thrown against a wall. The report’s dozens of recommendations range from “promoting innovation in the sunscreen market” to “ensur[ing] flexibility for farms to manage manure.”

But one of the report’s more straightforward recommendations doesn’t require rewiring the medical or food systems. “USDA and HHS will work to increase breastfeeding rates,” the report states, “Whether through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children or other policies that support breastfeeding mothers.”

Our Broken Fertility Culture

Abby McCloskey, National Affairs, Fall 2025

“America's fertility rate has plummeted. In response, politicians are floating a plethora of policies designed to encourage Americans to have more babies. These "pro-natalist" efforts, however, are taking place within a larger broken culture of fertility in America, which includes inconsistent understandings of life, callous policy treatment of mothers, and preventable difficulties in birth. Addressing our crisis of fertility must go beyond policy and nourish a new culture of family and fertility from the bottom up.

The replacement-level fertility rate for a population is 2.1 children per woman over the course of her life; in 2023, America's was sitting at 1.6. The problem isn't limited to the United States, either: Fertility rates are falling all across the developed world. The United Nations recently announced that we will reach peak population on Earth in 60 years, at which point the population will begin to contract. Only a decade ago, we thought this reversal might be over a century away.

In the United States and abroad, politicians, entrepreneurs, and other leaders are speaking out, with many promoting all sorts of policies to boost fertility rates. As self-proclaimed pro-natalist Elon Musk said recently, we "should view the birthrate as the single biggest problem [we] need to solve. If you don't make new humans, there's no humanity, and all the policies in the world don't matter." President Donald Trump put forth a potential solution: "[W]e will support baby bonuses for a new baby boom. How does that sound? That sounds pretty good. I want a baby boom."

Yet while fertility is where politicians focus, it represents just the tip of the iceberg. Abortion ends over one in four pregnancies worldwide and remains an intensely divisive political issue here at home. In vitro fertilization (IVF) has brought children to many families who couldn't previously have them, but it has also created an ethical thicket, with millions of embryos sitting frozen for an indefinite time and the emergence of technology to choose a child's genetic makeup. Maternal health outcomes in America are worse than almost anywhere else in the developed world. The birth experience is over-medicalized and risky, especially for black women. Moreover, most mothers give birth to and raise children while working. Not only have labor-policy reforms been slow to support working mothers, but men's share of household labor hasn't rebalanced.

This is all taking place in a culture that has increasingly pushed against the historic human experience of vulnerability, mutual dependence, and the bonds of family. Nowhere are these humbling elements of the human condition made clearer than in the birth of a child.

No wonder our fertility culture lacks consensus. Fixing that is essential, and will require more than toggling with public policy or telling people to have more children. Before looking at solutions, though, we need to examine recent history to understand how we ended up where we are. . . “

McCloskey: Ten Commandments law misses the point

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, September 23, 2025

“The Ten Commandments were handed to Moses on Mount Sinai sometime around the 13th century B.C. Texas Republicans want them on the walls of our public schools in 2025.

This summer, Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 10 into law, mandating that classrooms display posters of the Ten Commandments starting Sept. 1. Then on Aug. 20, a federal judge temporarily blocked the new law following challenges brought by several families with kids in Texas public schools. So continues a 50-year constitutional debate about the display of the Ten Commandments in schools.

As an Anglican, I hold a special place in my heart for the Ten Commandments. Every week in Lent, our church kneels and recites the Decalogue in unison. It’s powerful.

I’ve been humbled by Jesus’ exhortation that merely fulfilling these commandments is not enough. To even have a whisper of lust or look of envy is in effect to commit adultery or theft. Thus, the power of the commandments is their ability to strike down even the most proud and virtuous — to remind us that we cannot go through life being good on our strength alone. We need a savior.

I’m not sure that a poster over by the lockers conveys this profound truth. But that isn’t the only reason why legislating their display doesn’t sit well with me. . . ”

PODCAST: Mayor Mattie Parker and Abby McCloskey

Go Time, August 21, 2025

Look who I got to be with in Fort Worth! The indomitable @mayormattieparker

🎙️ In this episode of her podcast Go Time, we talk about supporting working families, building consensus across political divides, and how practical policy could make a real difference for Texans.

Listen here! https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/government/mayor/go-time

McCloskey: Why is everyone so rude?

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, August 15, 2025

Last month, I was in an airport with my kids on our way to a last summer fling. We sat down in the only empty row by our gate. Across from us was a woman wearing a hat which read, “anti-social dog mom.” She had a small dog in a carry-on dog carrier on the seat next to her. She was carrying on a loud video call: no headphones.

I gave subtle social cues: looking, squirming, clearing my throat, theatrically putting in my own AirPods. I’m not sure she ever glanced up. The five of us got up to go to sit at a different gate.

I’ve noticed more of that these days. We’ve made headphones more easy, air-y and effective than ever before and people have stopped using them in public places.

Here’s another story from a leafy Dallas neighborhood just down the road from my home. Like many neighborhoods, teardowns and new builds are cropping up everywhere. But the back of this particular house towers over the surrounding homes with massive windows that overlook the neighbors’ yards. It ruins six decades of privacy on the street. This was a design choice that could have been mitigated.

It’s their right of course; their property; their needs and wants, I get all of that. But it’s my sense that there used to be more consideration of others and impulse control.

There’s a word for this: conscientiousness. And it’s in freefall, according to a recent review of the USC Understanding America Study by Financial Times journalist John Burn-Murdoch. . . “

McCloskey: New cellphone ban in Texas schools is just the beginning

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, August 8, 2025

“This will be the first school year with the statewide cellphone ban in place. As a researcher and mother of three school-age children, I have some thoughts.

There’s only so much you control as a parent. How to discipline. What to feed kids. How to increase their independence. How to help build character. There are cottage industries to help parents turn each of these dials. Name the child-rearing issue and I promise there’s a podcast, book and app for that.

But outside the four walls of home is a big, big world. It’s here parents lose control over some of the most basic things. Like whether or not a highly addictive device akin to a drug — one linked to attention problems, mental health issues and reduced learning — is allowed inside the classroom starting in elementary school: aka, smartphones.

Families can have whatever tech controls they want in their home: put phones in a basket in the entryway, don’t let your teenagers on the internet in their bedrooms, etc. But at school, it’s been the hungry tech companies, distracted policymakers and spotty whims of educators and school boards that have served as the gatekeepers for kids’ relationship with technology.. . . . “

Hope springs eternal in the Democratic heart

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, August 3, 2025

“There’s a real can-do spirit in Texas. How else could we survive the summer heat and turn it into rip-roaring growth and economic opportunity? Our optimism manifests in other ways, too. Like thinking that a Democrat could be elected our U.S. senator in 2026.

I’ve heard of heat causing hallucinations, but come on. We’re a far way from that. Living on Mars under Musk’s America Party might happen first.

But it’s worth the thought experiment to consider what would make for better American politics, and how Democrats could crack the door to a different future.

I should disclose: I am a longtime admirer of Sen. John Cornyn. I don’t know him personally, but he was in the Senate when I was a staffer for Sen. Richard Shelby nearly two decades ago. He’s Big John, a principled conservative, one of the rare birds who has eschewed our political toxicity to work across party lines on guns and immigration.

But the senator is down in the polls. Badly. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — impeached and nearly indicted in deep Red Texas, not in some Democratic stronghold — is outpacing Cornyn in next year’s Republican primary by 15 points. His wife recently filed for divorce following Paxton’s alleged affair paired with his preaching family and Christian values. This double-life only adds to our distrust of politicians.

Of course, we are a long way out, and politics has a way of surprising. Cornyn pulled in more cash last quarter, though politics is less about cash than you might think. Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton with half the funds in his first presidential bid. Joe Biden beat Trump with significantly less cash on hand in 2020. And so on.

Texas voters may actually prefer Paxton’s hard-right, ethically twisty, populist style of politics. It matches Republicans at the national level. Accusations of sexual and economic corruption haven’t deterred there either.

Meanwhile, Democrats have started lining up for a hypothetical Paxton matchup in the general election. It reminds me of 2016, when Democrats thought Trump would be a weak candidate to compete against. They think this is their shot. Former Congressman Colin Allred has announced. He’s joined by former astronaut Terry Virts and Mike Swanson. Beto O’Rourke is circling.

In my humble opinion, they are reading the opportunity wrong. Any person who goes to Congress with a D behind his or her name, no matter how reasonable or ethical or pragmatic, is a sure vote against the Trump agenda. That won’t stand in a state that, in 2024, gave Trump the second-largest margin of victory for any presidential candidate in Texas history. It’s that simple.

How School Choice Became Big, Beautiful Tax Loophole

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025

“An obscure provision in the budget reconciliation bill just passed by the Senate could expand access to private school education but make DOGE — if it had feelings — cry at its inefficiency.

The policy would allow donors who give to an eligible scholarship-granting organization to be reimbursed dollar-for-dollar in the form of a tax credit up to $1,700 (down from $5,000 in earlier drafts). Families making up to three times the average income would be eligible for these scholarships, which is to say, most families with school-age children.

For the many kids who are stuck in subpar schools, any additional money could be a lifeline. As I’ve written before, school choice is associated with improved student outcomes, including better test scores and retention. Studies also suggest such competition increases the performance of nearby public schools.

For the naysayers who worry that school choice — whether in the form of charter schools, magnet schools or vouchers — will worsen public education, one needs only to look at the 2025 NAEP test scores. Most kids cannot read or do math at grade level. Change is needed. Parents understand this. Ask any mom if she’d want the financial freedom to choose the right school for her kid.”

Plot Twist: Republicans Just Got Families More Money

Abby McCloskey, Bloomberg, July 26, 2025

“Washington is a funny place. I don’t think President Donald Trump was thinking about former President Joe Biden with his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). But it certainly seems to poke fun at Biden’s BBB (Build Back Better) plan in name — and exceed it in some of its family priorities.

The Democrats’ BBB was all about supporting working families with child care, paid leave and an expanded Child Tax Credit — but it never made it past the Democratic-held Senate. Somehow it was Republicans who ended up taking ground on these working family policies in their behemoth reconciliation package. How’s that for a political scramble?

The OBBBA will impact families in myriad ways — but while Medicaid cuts, Trump Accounts and the expanded Child Tax Credit have all gotten attention, two working family provisions have flown under the radar.”