Bentonville, AR, Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, economist and author Emily Oster, PhD and Rebecca Jack, in partnership with Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America (HMHBA) announced the release of a comprehensive new white paper, "Employers, Employees and Parental Leave: Survey Evidence from Four Heartland States."
For years, the national debate surrounding paid family parental leave has relied heavily on data derived almost exclusively from states with existing legislative mandates, such as California and New York. This focus on predominantly coastal states has left gaps in understanding how employers and families navigate parental leave policies in regions without statewide mandates.To bridge this information gap, HMHBA commissioned this new study to examine the family parental leave landscape across four Heartland states representing a mix of rural, urban, and suburban communities - Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Nebraska - none of which have statewide leave mandates for private-sector workers.
Unique to this study, employers and employees with children were both surveyed to capture both sides of the employment equation. Between February and June 2026, Main Street Analytics conducted two complementary surveys: a Business Survey of 1,003 Human Resources professionals and decision-makers, and a Parent Survey of 2,002 parents with children under the age of 18. Of employers surveyed, over 66% were small businesses with less than ten employees.
The findings uncover a stark reality: mothers face persistent gaps in support, forcing many to choose between the financial stability of their job or the health of their family. At the same time, this research upends long-standing economic fears, showing that business concerns around providing paid parental leave are far greater than the actual costs.
Key Findings:
- Paid parental leave costs less than employers expect. Heartland employers who implemented parental leave policies were 2x as likely to say the benefits outweighed the costs (47% vs. 23%).
- Moms take parental leave either way. Dads take it when it’s paid. Most mothers take parental leave even though it’s usually unpaid. The data suggests that fathers take parental leave mainly when it’s paid.
- Money, not health, decides when moms go back to work. Mothers return when finances force them to, often well before the 12 weeks the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. 53% of parents returned to work strictly due to financial necessity, while only 22% felt physically and emotionally ready. The median parental leave taken was just 8 weeks for mothers and 2 weeks for fathers.
- Paid parental leave keeps mothers in the workforce. Many mothers surveyed report that they want to keep working, and note that paid parental leave is what helps keep them in the workforce.
- Self-employed and gig workers fall through the gaps. More than a quarter of working mothers who took no parental leave were self-employed, which points to a major coverage gap for independent workers.
"Robust paid parental leave is good for kids and families, but there has been a hesitancy from private employers to offer it due to real economic fears. The national debate has relied almost exclusively on data from California or New York, creating massive blind spots for employers and employees in states without any formal mandates,” said Emily Oster, PhD., lead researcher and study author. “By surveying both employers and parents in Heartland states, we uncovered a clear takeaway: the fear of paid parental leave for businesses is often far greater than the reality. When employers take the steps to invest in commonsense parental leave benefits, they aren't just supporting families - they are protecting their own bottom line by keeping good employees."
“I’m raising my family in Arkansas, and I want to know what works here. Now, we have that data. Nebraska employers offer paid parental leave at nearly twice the rate of employers in Arkansas and Mississippi, with no state mandate,” said Olivia Walton, founder of Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America. “Progress doesn’t have to wait on legislation, and it costs less than employers expect. When employers move first, moms stay healthy and in the workforce, and businesses keep the people they’ve trained.”
"Every employer I’ve worked with wanted the same thing: people who stay. This study shows what it takes. Mothers take leave regardless, and most return before they’re ready because the rent comes due. The employers who pay for those weeks aren’t being generous. They’re hiring, retaining, and winning, and the data say it costs less than they feared," said Dr. Neel Shah, President of Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America.
The study emphasizes that closing this support gap does not require waiting for heavy-handed mandates. Highlighting regional variation, Nebraska employers offer company-funded parental leave at a rate of 28.6%—nearly double the rate in Arkansas and Mississippi—proving that workplace culture and voluntary initiatives can rapidly drive progress.
To foster widespread adoption, the white paper outlines actionable, commonsense recommendations:
- For Employers: Business leaders should audit parental leave policies to identify gaps that leave mothers unsupported and eliminate workplace cultures that compel parents to return early. Smaller firms can utilize short-term disability tools, PTO-bridging, and pooled risk models to provide robust parental leave affordably.
- For Policymakers: Lawmakers can help expand access through small-business education and tax credits for employers like Section 45S - which provides them with a percentage of the wages they pay to qualifying employees while they're on family and medical parental leave.Policy solutions must also address coverage gaps for self-employed mothers while aligning with investments in affordable childcare infrastructure.
To review the complete white paper, methodology, and state-by-state data tables, please visit https://hmhba.org/paid-leave-research.
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About Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America
HMHBA is a national, bipartisan and independent nonprofit created by Olivia Walton and Cara Osborne in May 2026 with one ambitious goal: cut the U.S. maternal death rate in half in five years. HMHBA brings together leaders across government, business, health care, philanthropy, and communities to accelerate proven solutions, align action, and make maternal health a national priority. HMHBA believes healthy moms lead to healthy families, healthy families lead to healthy communities, and healthy communities lead to a healthy economy. Learn more here.
Lee Cochran Healthy Moms Healthy Babies America 203-249-8764 lee@hmhba.org