California expands family leave

In January 2025, California expanded Paid Family Leave (PML) and disability benefits through SB 951, making it more affordable for workers to take time off for pregnancy, childbirth, illness recovery, and family caregiving. Those earning under $63,000 annually can now receive up to 90% of their wages, while higher-income workers will receive up to 70%. This builds on California’s long-established family leave system and aims to close the gap in access between higher and lower-income workers.

Why it Matters

Many workers previously couldn’t afford to take leave because benefits were too low. By raising wage replacement rates, the state made it possible for more families to use paid family leave for bonding with a new child or caring for relatives, without facing major financial strain.

The changes are likely to impact women more than men, because women tend to file the majority of PFL claims, as they are far more likely to utilize PML benefits than their male counterparts.

Background

California was the first state to establish Paid Family Leave (in 2002). SB 951 is a state senate bill that was introduced in 2022 and included these expansion elements, which took effect this year. As it currently stands, the bill represents the biggest expansion of PML in two decades.

Paid Family Leave is set up in the same way that other employer benefits are, with workers and employers paying into them. Changes to the wage replacement rates, then, which is the percent of one's salary a worker receives when on paid leave, is a way to help more people at lower wages use those benefits.

Today, a total of 14 states have enacted paid family leave programs. Many of these programs have been expanded over time, and there is no evidence to suggest that any of them have been cut or scaled back.

Some quick CA facts:

• In 2020, high earners utilized paid family leave at a rate that was nearly three times that of workers earning less than $20,000.
• For the first quarter of 2025, claims were up ~2% for workers making less than $20,000 annually. For workers under $60,000, however, claims were up 17%.
• In 2005, during the early days of paid family leave in California, 83% of claims were filed by women and 17% by men. From 2005 to 2023, most of the growth in claims for leave has occurred among new fathers, demonstrating the perceived importance of early paternal bonding.