Paid family leave refers to leaves taken from work for the purpose caring for an ill family member or to care for a new child, during which the leave-taker receives some level of financial support from the employer, an insurance policy, or a government program. Other names for paid family leave include ""Family Disability Leave"" and ""Family Leave Insurance"". Paid Family Leave has been available as a legal right and/or governmental program for many years, in one form or another, in many countries throughout the globe — with current notable exceptions of the United States of America and Australia.

Since the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, paid family leave has grown as a political, social, and worker's rights issue, since the FMLA provides for only unpaid family leave. The state of California enacted the first government-run Paid Family Leave program in the United States, though the program is funded entirely through the contributions of workers. In May, 2007, the state of Washington enacted legislation providing paid family leave for bonding with and caring for new children; becoming the second state to pass paid family leave legislation. As of May, 2007, no commercial insurer has offered any form of commercially available Family Leave Insurance that provides a source of income during unpaid family leaves, though two US patent applications have been filed for methods of providing such insurance.

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