Balancing work and family obligations is hard and definitely keeps us busy! We wake up early, get our kids off to school and arrive at work, ready to work hard. After a long day, we come home, make dinner, help our kids with homework, put them to bed, clean the house, and fall into bed totally exhausted, only to repeat it the next day.

At least, that’s the plan. But sometimes situations beyond our control—like caring for a sick spouse or older parent, or having a baby—require us to take time off from work. For those of us with employers who don’t offer paid time off, that creates a financially precarious situation.

We face the stress of taking time off without pay or—worse—even losing our jobs at one of the most stressful times in our lives. For working families, that’s simply not fair. That’s why we need to demand that members of the General Assembly pass HB40, SB736, and SB41 to ensure Virginians have access to paid family and medical leave.

We’re Sandwiched Between Caring For Older Loved Ones and Raising Young Children

These bills would ensure that Virginia families who work hard for a living can take paid family and medical leave.

More and more, women and families are sandwiched between caring for older loved ones who may need round the clock medical care while also raising young children. Just that alone is a lot of work, but the people doing the lion’s share of this work are also working full time jobs to keep food on the table. We want to be great employees and work hard for our employers but, when balancing all of these competing demands, it is impossible.

More than 1 million Virginians serve as family caregivers, and both parents work full time in 70% of households with children. But only 44.7% of Virginians are eligible for paid family and medical leave. This issue affects hundreds of thousands of Virginia families, and families are crying out for relief. That’s why we need to pass paid family and medical leave as soon as possible.

Call Your Senator to Demand They Pass SB41 and SB736

Working people deserve to be compensated fairly and treated with dignity and that means, when major life events happen, we should be able to take time off work to deal with those events without worrying about where the money will come from.

Tell your Senators to vote yes on SB41 and SB736 so that everyone can live and work with dignity.