“Workers’ Voices” is a series on A Better Balance’s blog highlighting the firsthand experiences of workers from across the country. For some workers we are in touch with, they are covered by federal, state, or local workplace protections that make a world of difference in their ability to care for themselves and their loved ones. For others, their experiences highlight the glaring gaps that remain in our laws.
The below is a story from Christina, a Community Advocate with A Better Balance.
In the summer of 2021, I found myself welcoming the birth of my first child while grappling with my mom’s sudden and unexpected cancer diagnosis.
Virginia, where I was living at the time, doesn’t have a state paid family and medical leave program, but in Colorado, where my family and I moved in June 2022, workers now have the legal right to paid leave to welcome a new child or care for a loved one. It’s unconscionable that workers either have the fundamental right to paid family leave or they don’t based on the state they reside in. That’s why we need a national paid leave program.
Since neither my husband nor I had paid family leave through our employer, we used our entire savings to ensure that I could take the full 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). On top of not being paid during those 12 weeks, I did not get paid for the four weeks prior to my son’s birth because it was summer vacation and I was working as a public school teacher. By the time I returned to work, our savings were completely depleted and my credit card was quickly accumulating debt.
For several weeks after my son’s birth, I dealt with many common postpartum challenges including difficulty walking for the first two weeks, recurring nightmares, chronic exhaustion, physical pain, and bouts of anxiety. My mom had planned to help, but with her new diagnosis that was no longer an option.
“Whether we’re recovering from birth, bonding with our new child, providing care to an ill loved one, or grieving a parent’s death, every moment matters.”
When my newborn was just 10 days old, my husband returned to work. Later that afternoon, I was informed that my mom had stage 4 lung cancer with a prognosis of 6-9 months. Given the advanced nature of her condition, she decided to forego treatment and enter into hospice care. Unfortunately, my siblings who lived out of state were told by their employers that they did not have access to paid family leave either, resulting in financial stress, the accumulation of debt, and emotionally difficult decisions for all of us.
Less than 3 months after my mom received her prognosis, she passed away. My son was 11 weeks old.
Whether we’re recovering from birth, bonding with our new child, providing care to an ill loved one, or grieving a parent’s death, every moment matters. We deserve to move through these moments without fear of losing our paycheck, falling into debt, or having no other choice but to quit our job. We can’t wait another day for a national paid family and medical leave program.
