“The 9-5 does not work and never has.”

Brooke Lipps, @adayinaeats, watched her child look forward to the primary time—from behind a child monitor on her desk on the workplace. The 25-year-old gross sales improvement consultant shared her emotional response in a July 22, 2025, video that sparked a dialog about paid parental go away on TikTok.

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In the video, Lipps is seen crying at her desk behind the caption, “Me at work because I’m watching my baby sit up for the first time through the monitor.”  

The U.S. federal authorities doesn’t assure paid parental go away, and even paid maternity go away, for individuals who have just lately given delivery. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) supplies as much as 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected go away to staff of employers who meet specified standards. 

Approximately half of all mother and father usually are not eligible for FMLA go away, and dealing moms aged 18 to 34 have a decrease eligibility charge than different age teams. Many persons are excluded from FMLA advantages as a result of they work for small firms that make use of fewer than 50 folks. Others aren’t eligible for paid, job-protected go away as a result of they don’t have ample hours or job tenure. 

And, shocker—paid parental go away is just not mandated by the state of Texas, the place Lipps works. Because particular person employers can choose to supply the profit, or not, social stress has the potential to affect firm selections about collaborating in household advantages.  

“One year of paid federal maternity leave NEEDS to be the standard. I’m glad women are getting louder about this, it’s a huge issue.”

‘Being a working mom is so much harder than I could’ve imagined.’

Lipps’ video has practically 700 thousand views and over 5 thousand feedback. The younger mother wrote, “Being a working mom is so much harder than I could’ve imagined. Missing the milestones just breaks me 💔.” 

Commenters imagined a extra family-friendly work-life steadiness and regarded changes to the standard 9-5 and outdated gender roles.

@adayinaeats Being a working mother is a lot more durable than I might’ve imagined. Missing the milestones simply breaks me 💔 #workingmom #babygirl #youngmom #corporatemom #motherhood ♬ som unique – 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙚★

“It’s killing me that everyone’s speed running misogyny and right wing talking points in the comments but not thinking to consider better maternity leave??? like hello????”

“All of this when a lot of these jobs can literally be done from home and probably in a shorter time frame than 8 hours.”

“She doesn’t need advice to quit! We need women in universities in the workforce in positions of authority and power. That being said, paid maternity leave until your baby is kindergarten age should be a given.”

The remainder of the world averages 29 weeks of paid maternity go away. The U.S. presents 0.

Lipps’ video was crossposted to X, the place @collectdust shared an infographic from the New York Times that depicted the U.S. as one of many 7 nations worldwide that don’t assure paid maternity go away.

so this can be a name for paid parental go away? or? bc… pic.twitter.com/lvbam5xD53

— endora bullshit (@collectdust) July 26, 2025

These angels hit the right-wing speaking level we all know and love. 

“Ladies: Marry a provider husband so you can raise your kids.”

“Proof that marrying a good provider man is a flex. Being a girl boss isn’t.”

“Not having kids unless I can stay home and have a provider husband 🙏.”

Praying for you, Tara Louise.

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