I need to tell you about Christine Levi's story.

Quick side note: If you haven't heard about the One Country Project's Hot Dish Podcast, you really should give it a listen. One word for you: Amazing.

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But, Christine told her story on the podcast last week, and here's how it went:

As a young professional woman, Christine was working for a small law firm in Denver and she and her husband were living paycheck to paycheck like many people just starting out their career. But they wanted to start a family.

She did not have PTO or paid family leave at her job, so, when Christine found out she was pregnant with her first daughter, she spoke with her boss. He indicated that she could work from home for six weeks after her daughter was born.

The day after her daughter was born, Christine was working. At a time when she needed to be recovering, bonding with her newborn, and learning how to be a mother for the first time, she had to work instead.

And began receiving calls from her boss every hour starting at 8 in the morning and frequently until well after 5pm.

"Where are you?"

"What are you doing?"

"Are you working?"

I think we can all agree, it's time for a paid family leave in the United States.

Mothers-to-be and new parents need paid time off for delivery, recovery, and adjusting to parenthood. Families need time off to care for aging parents and sick children. Workers need time away to care for their own medical needs. And you shouldn't have to sacrifice your financial wellbeing to do it.

And that is evident in the numbers. Just look at our recent poll of voters in Wisconsin, 78% think we need a national paid family leave policy, and that's not just Democrats. 90% of Democratic voters and 71% of independent voters think we need paid family leave, and 69% of Republicans agree that the United States needs paid family leave.

Americans are ready for paid family leave, and you should be too. Listen to the rest on the Hot Dish Podcast and learn more about why the One Country Project is fighting for paid family leave. Click here to learn more.

There's never been a better time or place to make this happen – and I'm proud to support paid family leave for working families across the country.

More soon,

Tessa

Tessa Gould
Executive Director, One Country Project

Founded by former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), the One Country Project is dedicated to reopening the dialogue with rural communities, rebuilding trust and respect, and advancing an opportunity agenda for rural Americans. Our mission is to ensure rural America’s priorities and values are heard, understood, well-represented and reflected in policy in Washington.

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