Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian champions fight for paid family leave in the US for struggling workers
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently expressed his support for paid family leave. The entrepreneur responded to the comments made by activist Ai-Jen Poo.
Poo, who is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, spoke about the lack of paid family medical leave in the United States, particularly highlighting the financial problems faced by struggling home care workers in the country. The activist also highlighted how tax reforms could help such families.
A video of Ai-jen Poo's comments was shared on social media and Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian responded on X (formerly Twitter) by expressing support for paid family leave in the United States.
"We're gonna #PaidFamilyLeave for all Americans. Keep fighting," the 41-year-old wrote.
Williams and Ohanian got married in November 2017, two months following the birth of their first daughter Olympia. Their second daughter, Adira River, was born in August 2023.
A month after the birth of Adira River, Ohanian spoke about paid paternity leave and how it was important for every American to have it after the birth of a child.
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian on paid paternity leave
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian said last year that he felt not having paid paternity leave was "unconscionable" while seeing Serena Williams fight for her life following the birth of the couple's first daughter Olympia.
The Reddit co-founder spoke about starting the fight for paid paternity leave and taking it to Congress, which resulted in 12 weeks of the same for all federal employees.
"One month into my #PaternityLeave, as grateful as I am that Adira's birth was smooth & Serena has been recovering well; this leave has been vital for our family. With Olympia, watching my wife fight for her life, I realized not having paid leave was unconscionable. Sure, all my employees had it, but the vast majority of Americans don't — and that includes new moms (1 in 4 women in the US return to work within 2 weeks of childbirth)," Ohanian wrote on X.
"If you know me, you know I don't like just talking, I believe in action. I started this fight when Olympia was born because I realized how lucky I was and we took the fight to Congress and did get 12 weeks of parental leave for all federal employees (and recently including military!) — we have much more to do," he added.
Alexis Ohanian also said that he would not stop the fight for paid paternity leave until every American had it.
"And I won't stop this fight until every American has the same opportunity I had — and doesn't need to choose between their family and their career when welcoming a new child," the 41-year-old added.
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian started dating in 2016, and the latter has since been present in a number of the former's matches. The Reddit co-founder was in attendance during Williams' last tournament, the 2022 US Open.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion reached the third round of the New York Major before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic. She also competed in the women's doubles event with her sister Venus Williams, and the pair lost to Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka in the opening round.