Like many fathers in the U.S., when Jon Morgan's first child was born, he didn’t get paid family leave. Balancing the demands of work and caring for a new baby were “incredibly challenging,” he said.

“I found myself rushing between meetings and late nights trying to catch up on emails, all while missing those precious early moments with my newborn,” Morgan, a father of two located in San Francisco, California, told Salon. “I missed those first smiles, the bonding time, and even the sleepless nights that, in hindsight, I wish I could have shared more fully with my partner.”

Parent-focused policies, like child tax credits, child care, and paid family leave, are receiving more air time during this year’s presidential election. It comes at a time when the U.S. Surgeon General recently issued an advisory that American parents are so stressed out that it’s a public health crisis, suggesting the country is truly at a tipping point when it comes to parental stress.

There are legitimate reasons why this is happening. The United States is the only high-income country, and one of only a few countries in the world, without a national paid family leave policy. While the U.S. has the Family and Medical Leave Act, research shows low-income workers are less likely to benefit. Some states have taken matters into their own hands by implementing a mandatory paid family leave policy, but not all.

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Earlier this month, Americans watched vice presidential candidates Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz engage in a debate and answer questions about paid leave. During the debate, Walz agreed paid leave would be a “day one” priority for a Harris-Walz administration. Walz brought up a paid family and medical........

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