As both houses of Congress advance paid family leave efforts, a new PL+US survey finds that voters overwhelmingly support a national paid leave policy and are ready to rally behind candidates who support the policy, particularly in early primary voting states.

PL+US surveyed likely Democratic primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada and found strong support for a national paid family and medical leave policy:

• Nearly half of Democratic primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina have taken unpaid leave from work.
• Taking unpaid leave causes financial problems for most people.
• Support for this paid family leave is nearly universal (92 percent) and intense (74 percent strongly support), spanning all four of the early primary/caucus states.
• Support for paid leave was particularly high among people of color — who faced disproportionate financial hardship from unpaid leave.
• Most voters say that a national paid family and medical leave policy is very important to them — 77% of voters said “important” or “very important."
• Voters report said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a national paid family and medical leave policy (86 percent more likely to support, including 47 percent who are much more likely).
• 62 percent of voters say that they would volunteer for a candidate who supports paid family and medical leave.