Dylan's wife was pregnant and because he had not been at his job for a full year, he was not eligible for job protection and the school he worked at would not approve his leave. Dylan's daughter had to go to the NICU for a week, and once they were able to take her home Dylan had to immediately return to work. "We need to improve job protection so that others are not faced with the pain of having to work instead of being with their loved ones during life's most important moments."'

In February of 2009, Lauren’s younger sister had cystic fibrosis and her lungs were failing. Lauren had recently used up all of her accrued leave when diagnosed with MS, so she only had three days of bereavement to grieve for her 25 year old sister. Lauren applied for compassionate leave at her job, but was denied. Her sister passed away 2 days later, and Lauren was with her and her family during her last moments. “No one should have to explain why compassion is needed when a family member dies.”

Habibah has heavily relied on paid leave after the birth of each of her 4 children and to take care of her sick spouse. Habibah’s family went through a crisis when her daughter was only three weeks old and her husband had a heart attack. “If I had been faced with losing my job for taking paid leave, my family would have been in an even more critical situation, financially, emotionally, than we already were.”

Ediza, a social worker, had her second daughter in 2017. She had only been at her job for about five months before taking leave, not allowing for much time to bond and job protection. Ediza was given 8 weeks of leave and had to return to work 6 weeks after having her baby- and since she was exclusively breastfed, Ediza had to spend lunch breaks traveling to ensure her daughter was properly fed. She states, “No one should have to determine the size of their family due to the lack of access to paid leave”

I am very grateful that I live in New Jersey for the benefit of family leave insurance, which most states do not have. However, the cost of living in NJ is such that that we still struggled with receiving only a fraction of my full pay for only 6 weeks. As a resident of this state, I would be willing to pay more into the Family Leave Insurance plan if it would help add to the time and amont of money other mothers and fathers could recieve to be able to spend time with their new children. I believe New Jersey has been and should continue to be a leader on this issue.

When my son Xavier was just a day old, his father and I were concerned about a little lump on the left side of his forehead, and his right eye would not open as often as the left eye would. The discharging doctor from the hospital told me to not worry about it, but suggested that I have our pediatrician check it out during his first well baby examination.

Raquel is a hardworking mom from Paterson who works for a mommy and me shelter. Raquel believes it is unfair to her clients when she goes to work sick because she is spreading her illness to the moms and babies at the shelter.

Alicia is a patient care assistant who has four underage children at home. She is a “per diem” employee who works a full time schedule.

I firmly believe that one of the reasons [my daughter and I] are so close...is the intimacy of the bonding that began in those first three months. We need to expand family leave. There is no asset, no natural resource, no source of joy greater than our children. It’s in everyone’s interest to help our children get what they need to grow into healthy, civic-minded, conscientious adults. And what they need – and deserve – is time at the beginning of their lives to build the strongest, most supportive relationships possible with the people who will raise them.

Al-nisa reflects on how different the situation would have been if she and her husband hadn’t had that time after their 2nd baby’s birth. “I think it would have been more stressful for my oldr son, because it would have been a lot more stressful for me,” she explains. “The difference between a calm spirit and stress means everything with a child with autism.” Al-nisa was able to take the time to explain concepts like breastfeeding to her son. “We were able to understand what his needs were. I can’t imagine that would have been possible if I hadn’t had that time and my husband there as well.”

Derrick is an airport worker who cleans planes in Newark, NJ. Derrick talks about how the lack of earned sick days has impacted him personally; after an injury to his hand on the job, he was expected to continue working even though he was in pain.

Armando is a member of New Labor. He worked at a gas station in New Brunswick for three and a half years, working 7 days a week with only a single day off once every three months and he had not paid sick days.