Featured Research

Paid Family Leave in California

Lessons from 20 Years

It has now been nearly two decades since California passed the first paid family leave program in the nation. The program, funded through worker payroll deductions, provides over 18 million working Californians with benefits that allow them to bond with a child, care for an ill family member, or provide support during a military deployment to a foreign country. Since its creation, several other states have implemented similar programs, and California has made significant changes to its program several times since the initial program was put in place. This report is intended to be a resource for those interested in the California Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, how it is structured, and the lessons that can be learned from California’s experience over nearly 20 years. Here we examine the structure of California’s program, how it differs from programs in other states, and how the state ended up here from a political perspective.