Paid Sick Leave

Denmark’s Generous Childcare and Parental Leave Policies Erase 80 Percent of the ‘Motherhood Penalty’ for Working Moms

PUBLISHED 2/13/2026 by

For many women in the U.S. and around the world, motherhood comes with career costs. Can government programs that provide financial support to parents offset the “motherhood penalty” in earnings? Killewald with Therese Christensen, a Danish sociologist, set out to answer this question for moms in Denmark, a Scandinavian country with one of the world’s strongest safety nets.

In an article to be published in an upcoming issue of European Sociological Review, Christensen and Killewald show how mothers’ increased income from the state, such as from child benefits and paid parental leave, offset about 80 percent of Danish moms’ average earnings losses.

Keeping Score: 137 Women Are Killed by Partners or Family Per Day; Bipartisan Push for Epstein Files; Trans Day of Remembrance and Native Women’s Equal Pay Day

PUBLISHED 12/9/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—137 women and girls are killed by intimate partners or family members every day.
—Congress votes overhwlemingly to force the Justice Department to release their Epstein files.
—Donald Trump snaps at women journalists: “Quiet, piggy” and “you are an obnoxious—a terrible, actually a terrible reporter.”
—Violence against trans women remains high.
—DACA recipients are being targeted and detained under the Trump administration.
—Higher-income college students often receive more financial support than they need, while low-income students struggle.
—Tierra Walker died from preeclampsia in Texas after being repeatedly denied an abortion.
—Viola Ford Fletcher died at age 111. She was the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 
—North Dakota’s total abortion ban was reinstated after the state’s Supreme Court reversed a temporary injunction from a lower court. There are now 13 states with total bans.

… and more.

Are We Ever Off Work, or Just Out of Office? The OOO Messages Exposing America’s Care Crisis

PUBLISHED 11/25/2025 by

A new public awareness campaign, “Out of Office for Care,” launched this week invites employees to set their “OOO” automated email replies to accurately reflect the array of care responsibilities that pull them away from work, and then share those messages publicly.

People across industries—artists, founders, caregivers, cultural influencers, nurses, educators, nonprofit leaders, small business owners and parents—can give the country an unfiltered look at why they step away from work, and what it costs to do so without paid leave.

OOO replies range from clever to catastrophic. Some name the person they are caring for; others reveal the exhaustion of trying to do it all. All together, they show a country exerting caring in every direction and a policy landscape that hasn’t caught up.

Among those making the rounds:
—”I’m OOO because inexplicably school ends at 3 and work ends at 5 at best. … I can’t keep up, I need sleep, I’m getting a cold, everything is expensive and unnecessarily hard, and the holidays are coming.”
—”I’m OOO because my parents are getting older and I can’t manage their RX and 500 unread emails at once. In-home care is $60K and I have limited PTO. WiIl get back to you ASAP!”
—“Hi, sorry to miss you! I’m OOO because I just gave birth, but like 1 in 4 women in the U.S. I’ll be back at work in a couple weeks.”

Keeping Score: Diddy’s Incomplete Conviction ‘Failed to Protect Survivors’; Inhumane Conditions in Alligator Alcatraz; What’s in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’?

PUBLISHED 7/14/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—Trump’s reconciliation bill will prevent millions from accessing healthcare and food assistance.
—IWMF announced this year’s Courage in Journalism Awards.
—Many prison systems lack accommodations for pregnant inmates.
—Sean “Diddy” Combs found not guilty of sex trafficking.
—The Supreme Court’s decision on LGBTQ books in public schools lays the foundation for new assault on books of all kinds in schools.
—Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) called out the hypocrisy of “pro-choice” members of Congress in a House Rules committee meeting: “They say they’re pro-life because they want the baby to be born, go to school and get shot in the school.”
—A group of actors including Jane Fonda and Rosario Dawson wrote a letter to Amazon, after allegations that the company has frequently refused to accommodate pregnant workers. 
—Mahmoud Khalil is suing the Trump administration for $20 million.
—July 10 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, marking when Black women’s earnings catch up to what white men earned in 2024.

… and more.

Walmart, Kroger and Big Food Love SNAP Dollars—But Won’t Lift a Finger to Save Them

PUBLISHED 7/2/2025 by

While SNAP keeps grocery giants and food manufacturers afloat, they’re nowhere to be found when it’s under threat.

No peep out of Walmart or Kroger. Nada from ConAgra, Tyson Foods or Kraft Heinz. Zilch from General Mills, PepsiCo and Nestle. 

Maybe their tax breaks are worth it. Maybe they want to stay on Trump’s good side as Robert Kennedy Jr. attacks their products. Whatever the reason, their silence speaks volumes. 

What, you expected corporate solidarity with consumers and workers? You have not been paying attention. 

Keeping Score: Rep. Jasmine Crockett Questions Trump’s ‘Fitness to Serve’; Women Carry Two-Thirds of Student Debt; Congress Votes to Criminalize Revenge Porn

PUBLISHED 5/7/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: HHS promotes conversion therapy-like policies and opposes gender-affirming care; new executive order could lead to discrimination from credit lenders; Trump guts the Women’s Health Initiative; Wyoming abortion clinic celebrates a TRAP law injunction; Olivia Rodrigo received Planned Parenthood award; and more.

One Mom, Two Kids and a Chronically Ill Husband: The Hidden Burden of Multigenerational Caregivers

PUBLISHED 4/11/2025 by

Lizzie, a 34-year-old mom who cares for her husband with long COVID, is emblematic of how the classic sandwich generation has evolved for our generation into the multigenerational caregiver—caring for multiple family members of, you guessed it, different generations; in Lizzie’s case, her husband and children. Since COVID, in particular, the age of multigenerational caregivers has become younger as more of us take on care of an affected spouse (or sibling).

The Public Is Demanding Paid Sick Time. It’s Time for Lawmakers to Pay Attention.

PUBLISHED 11/19/2024 by

There was a promising development in the 2024 election that should not be overlooked: By large and decisive margins, voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska all voted yes to enacting new paid sick time laws in each state. Now, 3 million more U.S. workers have the legal right to paid sick time and will no longer need to make the impossible choice between sacrificing a paycheck and going to work or sending a child to school sick.

With these ballot wins, 19 states, as well as over a dozen localities, have now embraced paid sick time as a fundamental workplace right—and that is worth celebrating. But access to such a vital protection shouldn’t depend on luck or zip code. Tens of millions of workers are still being left behind. If Congress wants to address widespread concerns about economic hardship and rising costs of living, they can listen to voters and tangibly improve the well-being of working families everywhere by passing the federal Healthy Families Act.

Post-Election Reality Check: Tracking Feminist Setbacks, Resilience and Victories

PUBLISHED 11/12/2024 by | UPDATED 11/22/2024 at 3:04 P.M. PT

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week’s special post-election edition is tracking the 2024 election’s bright spots, feminist victories and a full rundown of the challenges and dangers we now face.

Care Policies Can Help Win Elections. Elections Can Help Win Care Policies.

PUBLISHED 10/22/2024 by and

The issues of “abortion” and “care” are highly intertwined and reinforced in voters’ minds. For many women, anger over the war on their fundamental right to control their own bodies is compounded by their inability to care for their families in the way they know is best.

Research also shows that for swing voters—especially men under 55, white men, and non-conservative Independents and Republicans—are more likely to switch their vote to a candidate who supports abortion rights and care investments, more than support for abortion alone.