PAID LEAVE FOR ALL, BRANDS, AND PARTNERS CLOSE THEIR DOORS FOR PAID LEAVE ON MARCH 18
The nationwide campaign is the first collective action of its kind, bringing together 70+ brands and partners across the country to call for Congress to pass paid family and medical leave in honor of Women’s History Month.
WASHINGTON, DC (March 18, 2024) – In a historic push for paid family and medical leave, more than 70 brands and organizations across the country are sending a powerful signal to Congress by closing their doors. On Monday, March 18th, brands and organizations will be coming together for a one-day action in honor of Women’s History Month: “We’re Closed for Paid Leave.” Participating brands will also post an Instagram graphic that day sharing this act of solidarity.
Coordinated with Paid Leave for All, the nationwide campaign aims to signal the value of unpaid care and the imperative for Congress to pass paid family and medical leave for all working people. “We’re Closed for Paid Leave” is the first collective action of its kind. Participants include brands across fashion, beauty, wellness, marketing, consulting, nonprofit and more, from maternity brand HATCH and premium parenting solutions leader Bugaboo to Tender Foundation.
The day offers a symbolic look at what could happen if more women exit the workforce and businesses close their doors without the protections of federal paid family and medical leave. Studies show that we’re on our way—women’s labor force participation lags behind other countries with paid leave and stopped growing in 2000. Women lag behind men in jobs gained since the pandemic, and care needs are only anticipated to grow as the population ages.
While paid leave impacts all Americans, women have disproportionately taken on caregiving while increasingly taking breadwinning roles, and without policy support. It has cost women—particularly low-income women and Black women—their jobs, pay, and mental and physical health. In fact, one in four mothers have returned to work within two weeks of giving birth. Reports also show that women are facing alarmingly high levels of burnout, that have been disproportionately higher than men—a gap that has more than doubled since 2019. Likewise, the maternal mortality rate has more than doubled in the last 20 years.
Meanwhile, a federal paid leave program would be a support to workers and businesses alike. Paid leave helps employers attract talent and reduce turnover, ensures that caregivers have a place in our economy, and allows small businesses to compete and working families to thrive. Passing paid leave with other care policies would yield millions of jobs, billions in wages, and trillions in GDP. Two-thirds of small businesses support a federal paid leave policy.
Founding partners of the action include:
- Caring Across Generations
- Family Values at Work
- HATCH
- It’s Your Leave
- Mila’s Keeper
- ROC United
- Supermajority
- Tender Foundation
Participants include:
- 9to5
- A.P. Chem
- All Things Mom Marketing
- Anya
- BEAM
- Bugaboo
- California Work & Family Coalition
- caraa
- CareSprint
- Chiyo
- Coalition for Social Justice Education Fund
- Converted Closet
- DIY Playbook
- Drive Agency
- Duster
- elvie
- Empower Work
- Equity Before Birth
- Esembly
- Estella
- Firebrand
- Firecracker Marketing
- Fourth Phase
- Fresh Starts Registry
- Gugu Guru
- Haely White Productions
- HeyMama
- Interior Monologue
- It’s Your Leave
- Kahlmi
- Katya Libin & Co.
- KCB – Keep Coming Back
- Lalo
- Looni
- Main Street Alliance
- McPherson Strategies
- Midheaven Denim
- Mother Tongue Magazine
- Motherly
- No. 29 Communications
- One Love Community Fridge
- Our Family Coalition
- RAMP real access motivates progress
- Reading Tea Leaves
- Rosie
- Solidarity Strategies
- The Art of Self Worth
- The Economic Progress Institute
- The Exchange Running Collective
- The Mae House
- The Outrage
- The Savvy Working Mom
- The Wick
- TheLi.st
- Thimble Health
- Time to Lean podcast
- Touchy Feely
- VoteMama
- We Testify
- Winter Water Factory
- Women and Girls Foundation
- Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
- Workers Defense Project
- Worthy Threads
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Press Contact:
Adrianne Wright
Rosie Communications
Adrianne@think-rosie.com