California was the first state to offer paid leave to parents and caregivers. But many lower-paid workers can’t take advantage, even though money for the program gets taken from their paychecks.
![Miranda Griswold cuddles her three-year-old, Rhys, before bedtime at their Merced home on July 8, 2021. “Six weeks is nothing,” Griswold said of the current family leave allotment. “It’s barely time to recover [from C-section] and on top of navigating breast feeding.” Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters](https://i2.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/070821_FamilyLeave_AW_sized_08.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
California was the first state to offer paid leave to parents and caregivers. But many lower-paid workers can’t take advantage, even though money for the program gets taken from their paychecks.
