Joyce Azodoh arrived in the United States from Nigeria firmly focused on building a better life for her family. She had just had her first child and wasn’t working, but she was eager to get a job and start living the American dream. Once she secured employment, she noticed a shift at home.
“I realized that I was spending less time with my husband and son,” Joyce said.
Soon after, she learned she was pregnant again, and the worry set in. “When I had my first child, I was not working, so I had no idea what PFL {Paid Family Leave} or DI {Disability Insurance} was,” she said.
Everything felt unfamiliar, and she remembers the anxiety of trying to navigate public services she didn’t fully understand.
Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides up to eight weeks of benefit payments to Californians who take time off work to bond with a new baby (including foster and adopted children), care for a seriously ill loved one, or support a military family member serving abroad. Disability Insurance (DI) provides short-term wage replacement if you need to take time off work due to illness or injury, pregnancy, childbirth, surgery, or alcohol or drug rehabilitation.
“Knowing that these programs existed took away the anxiety and gave my husband and me the opportunity to stay home with our baby without having to worry about income or the baby’s well-being,” she said. “I recently had another baby, and as always, PFL and DI were a huge blessing. Thank you to the EDD and the State of California for helping families like mine navigate the journey of parenthood.”
Since 2004, PFL has been supporting families for over 20 years, and serves as a foundation for families, specifically for mothers, to be present with their families during life-changing events. Learn more about Paid Family Leave for mothers.