Family and Medical Leave Act

Publication Date: July 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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The Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) as one means of easing the time conflicts that have developed in the past few decades as more and more married mothers began to work outside the home. While employed single parents always have felt the pressure of trying to fulfill both workplace and child-rearing responsibilities, this work-family juggling act increasingly has spread to married couples with young children. In addition, the aging of the population and the lengthening of life spans makes it increasingly likely that individuals will have to grapple with the competing demands of their jobs and caring for elderly relatives. The typical informal caregiver of the elderly is an employed, married, middle-aged woman who often has a young child at home. For those reasons, working mothers are widely regarded as the FMLA’s chief beneficiaries.