© 2026 ABC News

\"And when you don't center women and kids and care workers in policy making, it's not surprising that you end up with a national child care crisis, and an economy that simply isn't working for millions of families,\" she said.

During the coronavirus pandemic, around 3.5 million moms of school-age children left active work, shifting into paid or unpaid leave, losing their job or exiting the labor market altogether, largely due to increased caregiving duties, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

ABC News' Rachel Scott contributed to this report.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/advocates-rally-paid-leave-brace-cuts-final-spending/story?id=80705551","legacySlug":"/living/story/advocates-rally-paid-leave-brace-cuts-final-spending-80705551","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"19:47","publishDate":"10-21-2021","updatedTime":"03:08","updatedDate":"10-22-2021","socialImage":{"alt":"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a press conference supporting Build Back Better, in front of the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C.","credit":"Paul Morigi/Getty Images for MomsRising Together","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/nancy-pelosi-rally-gty-jt-211021_1634848670765_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"10/21/2021 19:47:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":80705551,"headline":"Advocates rally for paid leave as Congress debates","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_PAID LEAVE PRESSER & WHERE THINGS STAND_211021","description":"Biden may cut 12 weeks of paid leave to four, sources told ABC News.","duration":"1:52","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/10/211021_wnt_scott_645_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["80201752","80278956","63635252"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"October 15, 2021","headline":"Lawmakers try to change how people are supported after pregnancy loss","section":"wellness","slug":"/wellness/story/lawmakers-change-people-supported-pregnancy-loss-80201752","id":80201752,"image":{"alt":"Lawmakers try to change how people are supported after pregnancy loss","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/pressley-duckworth-gty-rc-210930_1633030061433_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"September 28, 2021","headline":"Congress close to passing paid family and medical leave: Here's what it would mean","section":"family","slug":"/family/story/congress-close-passing-paid-family-medical-leave-80278956","id":80278956,"image":{"alt":"Congress close to passing paid family and medical leave: Here's what it would mean","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/GTY-Capitol-Bldg-Exterior-MEM-170329_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"June 13, 2019","headline":"Serena Williams’ husband has a message for dads: Fight for paid paternity leave","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/alexis-ohanians-stop-congress-fights-dads-paid-paternity-63635252","id":63635252,"image":{"alt":"Serena Williams’ husband has a message for dads: Fight for paid paternity leave","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/gma-alexisohanianserena-ht-kk-190613_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Alexis Ohanian/Instagram","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Advocates rally for paid leave as Congress debates","description":"Biden may cut 12 weeks of paid leave to four, sources told ABC News.","duration":"1:52","uploadDate":"10-21-2021","publication":"10-21-2021","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/10/211021_wnt_scott_645_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/10/211021_wnt_scott_645_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/advocates-rally-paid-leave-brace-cuts-final-spending-80705551"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132880952","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"Advocates rally for paid leave as Congress debates","pubTime":"15:47","pubDate":"10-21-2021","modTime":"23:08","modDate":"10-21-2021","taxonomyTags":"none","id":80705551,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Advocates rally for paid leave as Congress debates","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_PAID LEAVE PRESSER & WHERE THINGS STAND_211021","videoId":80705551,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/advocates-rally-paid-leave-brace-cuts-final-spending-80705551"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/80705551","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/80705551","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};