Report · Money and Finance

Most Americans have never taken paid leave from work

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Most Americans (55%) say they have never taken paid leave from a job for any of these reasons, according to a March 2026 Verasight survey.

The most commonly cited reason for taking such leave is recovering from a serious health condition of one's own (27%), ahead of caring for a seriously ill family member (14%), physically recovering from childbirth (12%), and bonding with a new child (9%). Smaller shares point to a situation involving domestic or sexual violence (3%) or a military family member's deployment or injury (3%).

Topline

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Selected responses

Most Americans have never taken paid leave from work.

Have you ever taken paid leave from your job for any of the following reasons?

  • None of the above 54.9%
  • To recover from your own serious health condition (mental or physical) 27.2%
  • To care for a family member (or someone you consider family) with a serious health condition (mental or physical) 14.0%
  • To physically recover from child birth 11.9%
  • To bond with a new child (birth, adoption, or foster) 9.3%
  • To handle a situation related to your own or a family member's experience with domestic or sexual violence 3.2%
  • To attend to matters related to a military family member's deployment or serious injury or illness 2.5%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

Module 2: Economics, Work, & Policy

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-03-06 → 2026-03-16
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
Module 2: Economics, Work, & Policy

Source

Citation

Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044, fielded March 6-16, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/omnibus-2026-044#q-2-18

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.