A new survey finds 83% of registered voters would support a paid family and medical leave program in Arizona. Strong majorities across political party, age, gender, race and ethnicity say they would support such a program.

Statewide paid family and medical leave programs are now operating in 13 states as well as the District of Columbia to provide wage replacement for employees who are new parents, who need leave to address a serious health condition or to support family members with a serious health condition. The U.S. is one of a small handful of countries around the world without paid leave for new parents, although the federal Family and Medical Leave Act offers job protection for unpaid leave.[i]

Overall, 83% of Arizona voters say they would support a paid family and medical leave program in the state; two-thirds (66%) say they strongly support this, 18% somewhat support and 14% strongly or somewhat oppose a program. The survey of 500 registered voters was conducted by telephone from October 20 to 26. Findings based on the total sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

There is considerable agreement across party lines about paid family and medical leave, even in this era of political polarization. Two-thirds (66%) of Republican voters at least somewhat support a paid family and medical leave program for the state, as do nine-in-ten (90%) independent voters, i.e., those not registered with any party, and nearly all Democratic voters (97%).

There is also broad support for a paid family and medical leave program across age, gender, race and ethnicity. Working-age adults are especially likely to support a paid family and medical leave program. About nine-in-ten voters under 39 (91%) support a family and medical leave program as do 85% of voters age 40 to 64. Among voters age 65 and older, a 71% majority support paid family and medical leave, with about half (49%) strongly supporting and 22% somewhat supporting this.

Large majorities of men (79%) and women (87%) voters support a paid family and medical leave program in the state. Overall, 79% of White, Anglo voters support a family and medical leave program as do an even larger share (95%) of Latino voters.

The demographic groups with especially large shares saying they strongly support a paid family and medical leave program include voters under 39, age 40-64, women and Latinos.

Other key findings:

• Support for paid family and medical leave remains strong when a funding mechanism is specified. The share of voters supporting a paid family and medical leave program in Arizona is about the same overall (84%) when asked about their views if funding for the program were to come from payroll contributions of 0.5% each by employers and employees. Among Republican voters, support is actually higher when funding for such a program is specified as coming from payroll contributions (73%, compared with 66%).

• Helping young children get a healthy start to life is one of the most convincing reasons to support paid family and medical leave. When asked about possible reasons to support a paid family and medical leave program, most voters (93%) say this statement is at least somewhat convincing: “Providing new parents with time off to care for a new child helps make sure these young children have the care they need for a healthy start to life.” In all, 71% of voters consider this is a very convincing reason to support paid family and medical leave. More than nine-in-ten Democratic (97%) and independent voters (93%) say this is at least a somewhat convincing reason as do 74% of Republican voters.

• These findings come at a time when Arizonans are strongly negative about the cost of living. Nearly seven-in-ten voters (69%) rate the cost of living in the state as only fair or poor, while 23% say it is good and only 7% say the cost of living in the state is excellent or very good.

Voters give mixed reviews of the state in other regards. For instance, 29% of voters rate Arizona as excellent or very good as a place to raise a family, 35% say it is good and 33% say it is only fair or poor in this regard.

About the survey: The survey of 500 registered voters was conducted by High Ground Public Affairs. All surveys were completed with a random sample of registered voters in Arizona and conducted in English and Spanish to cell phone and landline users with a live interviewer from October 20 to 26, 2025. The margin of sampling error for results based on all respondents is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

The survey was led by Arizona’s Grand Canyon Institute, a non-partisan think tank, in partnership with the Arizona Center for Empowerment, the Arizona Early Childhood Alliance, and the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. The survey was conducted with support from the Pritzker Children’s Initiative.

Read the full report here.

[i] Children and Families: State Policies on Paid Family Leave. (updated June 12, 2025). National Conference of State Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/human-services/children-and-families-state-policies-on-paid-family-leave