Methodology

Where the numbers come from

Every value in the calculator traces back to an official primary source. Federal rules come from the Family and Medical Leave Act and the federal labor regulations that implement it. State programs come from each state's own department of labor or workers' compensation board — California's EDD, New York's Workers' Compensation Board, New Jersey's Department of Labor, and so on for every state we cover.

When you finish the calculator, the "How we calculated this" section at the bottom of your results lists every program that contributed to your timeline alongside a link to its primary source — so you can verify any number yourself.

The data set covers all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. As of 2026, sixteen jurisdictions have full state-specific data: California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon, Rhode Island, Delaware, DC, Maine, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Florida — chosen to span the full policy spectrum, from Oregon's industry-leading 100% replacement rate for low earners and Rhode Island's 30-week medical leave (the longest in the US, since 1942) to DC's unique 100% employer- funded program (workers pay $0), Delaware's $900 weekly cap (the lowest in the US, with FMLA-equivalent eligibility), and Maine (the newest program, with benefits starting May 1, 2026) to Texas/Florida operating at just the federal floor. Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon, and Maine all have built-in state-level job protection at any employer size; Rhode Island, Delaware, and DC's state job protection is narrower (20-50+ employees, mirroring or close to FMLA). Maryland (phased through 2027) is the only remaining state with a paid family leave program not yet covered.

How the calculation works

You answer a short series of questions: which state you work in, your role in welcoming the child, how long you've been at your job, how many hours you've worked in the past year, your employer's size, your salary, your pay frequency, your delivery type, and whether you're carrying multiples. A few of those only apply if you're the birthing parent; the calculator skips what doesn't fit.

From those answers, the calculator works out which state and federal programs you qualify for, applies each program's specific rules, and produces a week-by-week timeline showing each phase of your leave and how much you'll be paid each week, dated action items (when to file your FMLA paperwork, when to file your state claim, when to add your baby to insurance), and a "How we calculated this" section citing the primary source for every program contributing to your timeline.

The calculator honors each state's specific rules. California's tiered structure pays low earners 90% of wages and higher earners 70%. New York's short-term disability program is capped at $170 per week — a number unchanged since 1989. New Jersey replaces 85% of wages up to $1,119 per week. When a state's weekly cap would limit your benefit below the percentage replacement, the calculator shows you the actual capped amount, not the theoretical percentage.

How the data stays current

State paid family leave parameters typically update annually around January 1, when new wage caps and contribution rates take effect — but mid-year legislative changes happen too. To keep stale numbers out of the calculator, an automated monitor checks each state government source every week for changes.

When a change is detected, it's never applied to the calculator automatically. It's flagged for human verification against the primary source first. This trades some freshness for accuracy — a real numeric change might take a few days to land after the state publishes it, but the alternative (silently propagating an unverified change) could send thousands of users the wrong numbers.

Two annual full audits also run. December 1: verify next year's announced rates across all monitored states. January 5: confirm those rates have actually taken effect. These catch changes the weekly monitor would miss — like a state adding a brand-new program at a URL not yet in our monitoring list.

Who the question flow is built for

The calculator is built around four parent roles: birthing parent, non-birthing parent or partner, adopting parent, and fostering parent. State paid leave laws use eligibility rules that map cleanly onto these four roles regardless of family structure — the underlying laws rarely distinguish between, say, a married heterosexual couple and a same-sex couple, or between an opposite-sex partner and a domestic partner. The flow is built to honor that: choose the role that matches your situation and the math is the same.

Concretely:

• Same-sex couples where one partner carries the pregnancy: the carrying partner selects "birthing parent" and the other selects "non-birthing parent / partner". Both qualify for the appropriate state programs — the birthing partner for medical recovery + bonding, the non-birthing partner for bonding leave in states that have it.
• Donor-cycle families (IUI, IVF, donor egg or sperm): the person carrying the pregnancy is the birthing parent for benefits purposes regardless of the genetic relationship to the child. State programs evaluate based on who carries and gives birth, not on biological parentage.
• Intended parents via surrogacy or gestational carrier: select "adopting parent". State paid family leave programs that cover bonding generally cover intended parents under the same rules as adoptive parents, even when no formal adoption is required. California PFL and Massachusetts PFML, for example, both cover intended parents for bonding leave.
• Single parents by choice or circumstance: the role options work identically; nothing in the calculator assumes a two-parent household.

State-specific copy uses "you" and "birthing parent" rather than "mom" or "the dad". The state-program names themselves (e.g., "Paid Family Leave") are used as states officially title them without re-gendering.

Baseline assumptions

State-specific landing pages display a typical case: a $75,000-per-year birthing parent at a 50+ employee company, with 12+ months on the job, full-time hours, and vaginal delivery. This gives a quick sanity check before you customize for your own situation in the calculator.

Recovery weeks default to 6 for vaginal delivery and 8 for C-section — the standard medical recovery periods most state programs accept. If your provider certifies a longer recovery, your actual paid period may extend.

What the calculator doesn't model

• Federal income tax and Social Security withholding. Wage replacement is taxable income (fully or partially, depending on the state). The dollar figures shown are gross — before tax is taken out.
• Employer "top-up" plans. Some employers supplement state paid leave to 100% of your pay. We ask about employer-paid parental leave separately, but the precise interaction with state programs varies by employer policy.
• Multi-state work arrangements. If you live in one state and work in another, the calculator uses the work state's rules — correct for most state programs, but with edge cases for remote workers across state lines.
• Self-employed and 1099 contractors. Most state programs are opt-in for self-employed workers and require enrollment before pregnancy. The current calculator covers W-2 employees.
• Federal employees. Federal employees have their own Paid Parental Leave program (12 weeks at 100% of pay) and don't use state programs. The calculator handles this correctly when "federal" is selected as employer size; a dedicated federal-employee page is planned.

How to report a data error

If a value looks wrong for your state — especially if you have direct experience with the program — please get in touch with a link to the primary source. Public correctness is the whole point.