Balancing a career with caregiving put Amy Brennan in a precarious position. In 2016, the Chicago resident took five months off work with partial pay, through the Family Medical Leave Act. Her mother was in the final stages of cancer, and Brennan needed to take care of her.

Still, she remained dedicated to her job at a large bank, responding to emails and keeping up with her work in the evenings. It was only during the last two weeks of her mother’s life that Brennan stopped working completely...

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