Philadelphia Invests $8 Million to Address Black Maternal Health and Extend Paid Parental Leave for City Employees

Philadelphia City Council’s Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson announced an $8 million allocation in the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget to bolster Black maternal health and enhance paid parental leave for city employees, as reported on the City Council’s official website – a move pointing toward the pressing need to address racial disparities and support working families. The commitment by the city includes $1 million to support community organizations at the frontline of the Black maternal health crisis, providing in-home lactation support which Medicaid doesn’t cover and funding for doula services; $6 million will extend paid parental leave from six weeks to eight, and with an additional $1 million set aside to explore the possibility of city-run childcare, this initiative reflects an expanding awareness of the financial and emotional strain on new parents, especially with the return to full-time in-person work starting July 15, which forces city employees to seek costly childcare solutions. In a statement obtained by Philadelphia City Council’s news release, Gilmore Richardson, who is herself a working mother of three, emphasized the significance of this investment, highlighting that “Philadelphians are able to build strong and prosperous families from the womb to the classroom.” These actions come in...