America Agrees! Paid Family Leave Needs to Be Addressed.

A national poll commissioned by Engage in January of this year puts hard numbers on what the bipartisan working groups in the House and Senate have been hearing for years: voters across the country, in both parties, want federal relief on paid family leave and the challenge of balancing work and caregiving. The poll surveyed 1,007 registered voters nationwide between December 30, 2025, and January 5, 2026 using a mixed-mode methodology, with a margin of error of ±3.0 percentage points.

Three-quarters of registered voters (75%) say they support expanding paid family leave through federal grants to states. That includes 94% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 58% of Republicans, a coalition that is both politically potent and winning.

Bills like the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act reach a president’s desk because individual members of Congress stay committed on behalf of their constituents. Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) launched the bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group in 2023, and this effort has proven successful with the introduction of legislation.

Three findings from the Engage poll sharpen the case:

• 81% of all voters surveyed want the Trump administration and Congress to work together on paid family leave, including 95% of Democrats, 83% of Independents, and 70% of Republicans. There is no “wait until 2028” constituency on this issue.
• When voters learn the bill covers caring for an aging parent or seriously ill family member, not only for the birth of a child, support climbs to 86%. 95% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans say that fact makes them more likely to back the bill.
• Voters reward the design details. 80% are more likely to back the bill when they hear it uses a modern verification system to reduce fraud, including 71% of Republicans and the vast majority of Democrats. 79% say the same when they hear that workers can keep their leave coverage when they move between states, the portability piece the companion Interstate Paid Leave Action Network (I-PLAN) Act would actually deliver. Anti-fraud guardrails and interstate portability resonate with voters and their lived experience.

There are limits to voters’ support. Support wanes, particularly among Republicans, when they hear the bill costs taxpayers, a reasonable concern which should incentivize finding a pay-for.

This bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support. Engage will continue to keep you updated on this legislation and its path to becoming law.

Pay-for (noun) An offset (a tax increase or spending cut) used to cover the cost of new legislation so it doesn’t add to the deficit.

A national survey Engage commissioned in January found broad bipartisan support for federal action on paid family leave, with majorities across parties saying Congress and the Trump administration should work together on it.