What We Learned About Parental Leave from the 2026 National Parent Survey

Too many parents in the United States still cannot take leave to care for their new child, despite the well-documented benefits of parental leave for the health of the child and parent, and the economic benefits for the family and the economy.

Earlier this year, the New Practice Lab at New America conducted the 2026 National Parent Survey, which included new, nationally representative data about parents’ use of leave and leave preferences after the birth of a child. 

The data from parents about their leave demonstrate three core learnings that can inform policymakers as they consider how to better serve and support families after the birth of a child. First, there are still people for whom taking leave is not possible. Next, there were significant differences by gender in who took leave. Finally, many parents wanted more leave than they were able to take. Notably, parents in states with paid family and medical leave programs took longer leaves, on average, than parents in other states. 

The results of this survey reinforce the importance of well-designed paid leave policies that meet the demand of parents across the country, and ensure all parents can take the time they want to bond with a new child.

More about the survey: The 2026 National Parent Survey, fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago, asked nearly 5,500 parents of children under the age of six about their experiences with parental leave, child care, time with their family, and what they want for their children. Throughout this post, we use the terms “moms,” “dads,” and “parents” for readability. The vast majority of respondents (96 percent) were parents, including biological parents, stepparents, adoptive parents, and foster parents. The remaining 4 percent were other caregivers, including grandparents (2 percent); aunts, uncles, or siblings (1 percent); legal guardians (0.7 percent); and other caregivers (0.3 percent).The survey data is limited to leave after the birth of the respondent’s youngest child, described here as “parental leave.” The survey did not ask about other types of leave, such as leave after adoption or foster placement, medical leave, family caregiving leave, safety leave, or military exigency leave. The survey also did not ask whether the respondent’s leave was paid or unpaid. However, results from the New Practice Lab’s new New York City Parent Survey, funded by the Robin Hood Foundation, provides additional parental leave findings that include whether New York City parents took paid or unpaid leave—and if the latter, why they did not use New York’s paid family leave program. Additional information about the 2026 National Parent Survey, including the survey instrument and public-use data files, is available in the full report.

Many Parents Are Still Unable to Take Any Parental Leave

Among parents who were employed when their youngest child was born, 15 percent reported not taking any time off from work. This means an estimated 3 million (employed) parents nationally took no leave after the birth of a child, nearly 1 million of them mothers.

Fathers were less likely to take leave after the birth of their child (19 percent took no leave) than mothers (10 percent). Lower-income parents, below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), were also less likely to take parental leave (21 percent took no leave) compared to higher-income parents at or above 200 percent FPL (13 percent).

Parental Leave Duration Varies Significantly by Gender

While most parents (59 percent) took six weeks of leave or less, there were significant differences in leave duration by gender (see Figure 1). Dads who returned to work after taking leave (96 percent) reported taking far less leave (median of 2 weeks) than moms who returned to work (median of 10 weeks).

Half of dads (51 percent) took short leaves of two weeks or less, compared to 6 percent of moms. Most moms returned to work after taking leave (88 percent). Leave durations among moms who returned skewed longer than dads: 29 percent took 9 to 12 weeks of leave, and another 26 percent took 13 or more weeks. 

Parents who lived in states with paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs—defined as the ten states with active programs that guarantee at least 12 weeks of leave with partial wage replacement to eligible parents to bond with a new child—took notably longer leaves on average, but the gender differences were still stark (see Figure 2). Dads in PFML states took an average of 4.66 weeks of leave, more than one week longer than dads in non-PFML states (3.54 weeks). Moms in PFML states took an average of 12.60 weeks of leave, nearly 3.5 weeks longer than moms in non-PFML states (9.20 weeks).

As previous research has pointed out, these gender differences are not because dads do not want to take leave but because their choices are constrained by lack of access to paid leave, gender norms that discourage male caregiving, family economic concerns, and dads’ fears about jeopardizing their career.

Parents Want Longer Parental Leave

A majority of parents (55 percent, nearly 9 million people) wanted more leave than they took. We know parents often cannot take as much leave as they want due to financial insecurity when taking unpaid leave, or paid leave with low wage replacement; concerns they might lose their job; or their employer making it hard for them to be away longer. 

When asked how much leave they would ideally like if money were not a concern, nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of parents in the survey said they wanted 13 or more weeks. There were significant differences in ideal leave duration by gender, with moms preferring leaves about twice as long as dads (a median of 11-12 weeks for moms compared to 5-6 weeks for dads). Nearly one-third of moms (32 percent), but only 15 percent of dads, wanted 13 or more weeks of parental leave.

When comparing parents’ actual leave durations with their ideal leave duration, a noticeable pattern emerges: Parents would prefer more leave than they actually took (not including parents who would have preferred not to return to work at all). For example, among parents who took between five and eight weeks of parental leave, 71 percent wanted longer leaves (nine weeks or more). Among parents who took 9 to 12 weeks of leave, 79 percent wanted longer leaves of 13 weeks or more. This pattern reflects the broader survey finding that parents want more quality time with their children.

A not insignificant portion of parents in the survey (23 percent) reported that in this ideal scenario, they would have preferred to stay at home after the birth of their child rather than return to work after taking leave. This was overwhelmingly driven by moms: 85 percent of parents who wanted to stay at home permanently were moms.

This trend among parents is not surprising. Many parents prefer to care for their child themselves during the child’s first year (35 percent), though this declines as children get older. This could be partly because infant care in the US is particularly expensive and difficult to access, in part because infants require more hands-on attention and smaller ratios of adult caregivers to children.

Policy Implications

The 2026 National Parent Survey continues to demonstrate parents’ desire for more time to care for their children after birth. However, too many people in the United States still do not have access to leave, especially paid leave. As state and federal policymakers consider creating and expanding paid family and medical leave policies to fill these gaps, the data from this survey reinforce the necessity of designing the policy to be one that meets the demand of all parents: 

• A gender-neutral paid leave policy is one that allows both parents to take equal amounts of leave after the birth of their child. This policy design, coupled with shifting social and workplace norms that support men providing care, can enable more dads to take parental leave.
• While parents may take shorter leaves for a variety of reasons, a paid leave policy that allows for a minimum of 12 weeks of parental leave will begin to meet parents’ preferences. And as policymakers grapple with childcare policy solutions, they should also consider longer parental leave durations, to allow parents to care for their infants and address the challenges of building the supply of high-quality, affordable infant care.
• A paid leave policy should have higher wage replacement amounts, especially for the lowest-wage workers, so they can afford to take leave. Many newer state paid leave programs have adopted a progressive wage replacement rate that replaces a greater share of wages for lower-wage workers.
• A paid leave policy should not only serve those who can afford to take it; but should expand access by lowering eligibility requirements and increasing outreach and education, especially to populations with historically lower access to leave due to financial and employer-type barriers.
• A paid leave policy should cover comprehensive reasons for leave and not be limited to just parental leave. The survey shows that 28 percent of parents with children under the age of six—more than 7 million Americans—are also regularly providing care for an older adult family member. A comprehensive paid family and medical leave policy that allows for parental, medical, and caregiving leave will help all workers manage care, especially parents in the “sandwich generation.”

Families know what they need – and responses across this and other surveys show that across demographics of geography, gender, income, and more, parents want to spend more time with their children. The months after birth are critical for families, and the gap between what people are asking for and what they have access to is stark. We hope that by sharing what we’ve heard by listening to families, we can help build policies that are worthy of the lives they are working so hard to live.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Kelly Bidwell, Alyson Silkowski, Vicki Shabo, Liz Cory, Julie Hersh, and William Schultz for their contributions to this publication.