Washington State is letting new parents bring their babies to work whenever they want

A baby with a laptop.
(Image credit: iStock)

If a pilot program in Washington State is successful, expect to see a lot of babies going to work with their parents.

In June, state officials enacted the "Infant-at-Work Program Policy," which lets new moms, dads, and legal guardians working at the Traffic Safety Commission bring their babies to the office. They must be at least 6 weeks old, and can continue to come in until they are 6 months old, or start to crawl. When announcing the program, officials said research proves letting parents stay with their infants "supports critical bonding, healthy infant brain development, and parental well-being. It also enables exclusive breastfeeding, which improves lifelong health."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.