He was able to take about five months of paid leave total, including 12 weeks through the paid family leave program and an additional eight weeks of sick leave. Further Progress to Paternity Parity: Dads & Bonding Leave in State Paid Leave Programs (Paid Leave for All)“Dads really want to be able to take leave to bond with their children, and when presented with the opportunity through this public investment, dads are showing up, stepping up and taking advantage of this opportunity,” said Molly Weston Williamson, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and author of the Paid Leave for All report. Indeed, it is in the states with paid family leave where gender parity in bonding leave has advanced the most. Men in states with paid family leave programs are also much less likely to forgo taking leave at all. For him, living in a state that has had a paid family leave program for over 20 years, the culture of men taking leave was already solidified.