North Carolina Voters Agree: It’s Time for a Bipartisan National Paid Family Leave Policy

Raleigh, North Carolina – November 28, 2022 – Ahead of the upcoming 118th Congress, Americans for a Balanced Budget (ABB) commissioned a poll with Public Opinion Strategies to see where North Carolina voters stand on the potential federal program for paid family and medical leave. Support for giving all employees better access to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave is overwhelmingly high (84 percent).

Federal law does not guarantee that workers receive paid family and medical leave, putting enormous pressure on the North Carolinians (75 percent) who say they would face financial hardships if they had to take unpaid time off to care for a new baby, family member, or for themselves. Voters agree with the core values of paid leave:

• 92 percent of voters said that taking care of the ones you love should not force anyone to choose between working to support a family and losing pay and benefits when taking off time to care for them.
• Even though North Carolina has an unemployment rate slightly lower than the national average, many in the state haven’t gone back to work since the pandemic. 77 percent of voters agreed that a paid family and medical leave program would help moms and caregivers feel more comfortable going back to work.
• 61 percent of North Carolina voters said paid leave was important because it allows people to be there for important first moments in the lives of their children and last moments in the lives of their loved ones.

“The benefits of paid leave are well established,” says ABB President Dee Stewart. “It provides financial security for families while incentivizing Americans to return to the workforce.”

Stewart continued, “With only slim majorities expected in the new Congress, successful passage of a well- structured policy is threatened unless a bipartisan gang of members is wise enough to listen to their constituents and champion this widely supported policy. There’s a middle ground here for Democrats and Republicans. Democrats could get a policy passed that they’ve been working on for years, and Republicans could shape it into a paid-for benefit that’s part of a pro-family agenda.”

This online survey of 600 registered voters, with an oversample of North Carolinians who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 and registered independent women, was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies in September of 2022.