Lawmakers’ family decisions renew debate over paid leave and careers

Recent decisions by women in national politics have renewed discussion about the difficulty of balancing motherhood with demanding public careers. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said this week that she had begun freezing her eggs, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she would leave the Trump administration to spend more time with her family.

Rep. Sara Jacobs said she completed two rounds of egg freezing and has delayed having children while her job requires frequent travel between California and Washington. She said Congress and many workplaces were built around assumptions that domestic work would be handled by stay-at-home spouses.

The debate comes as the United States remains the only industrialized nation without mandated paid parental leave. Less than a quarter of U.S. workers have access to paid family leave through an employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Women in the U.S. are also having children later. A 2025 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found the average age of mothers giving birth rose from 28.7 in 2016 to 29.6 in 2023.

Read the full story at BBC.