Paid family leave seems like a luxury in the United States. After all, we don’t have a federal law requiring paid family leave, so it must exist only in a handful of countries with really high tax rates, right?
Wrong.
You’d probably be surprised to learn that of the nearly 200 countries in the world, the U.S. is among a short list of countries like New Guinea and Suriname who do not guarantee some form of paid family leave. In fact, we are the only high-income country without it.
What paid family leave looks like across the U.S.
The most significant family leave policy in the U.S. is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which was passed almost thirty years ago under President Bill Clinton. FMLA provides important protections for employees, so they can’t be fired for taking up to twelve weeks per year off work for life events like the birth of a child or a serious health condition. The problem for many families is that, while FMLA protects their employment status, it does not protect their pay. FMLA guarantees unpaid leave, but only about 14 percent of Americans still receive pay from their employer during family leave. The remaining 86 percent of families have to figure out if they’re financially stable enough to forgo a paycheck for twelve weeks. This both exacerbates inequality and forces people to miss out on valuable time bonding with a new child or caring for a loved one.
Although we do not have a national paid family leave policy, five states (CA, NY, NJ, RI, and WA) and the District of Columbia have their own policies. In all instances, employee-paid payroll taxes fund the programs. In February, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) expanded the state’s existing paid family leave program from six weeks to twelve. In addition, workers will be able to access more of their paycheck during time off (up from 66% to 85%), and there will be more choice over who counts as family, to include siblings and grandparents. The added flexibility will allow more families across more income levels to access the care they need.
Why can’t Americans agree that paid leave is a good thing?
For starters, it’s called “paid” family leave for a reason – someone has to pay for it. There begins the long and winding tumble down a rabbit hole of questions that no one seems to be able to agree or compromise on. Should this be the responsibility of the government, employers, or a combination of the two? Where will the funds come from – a new social security-like fund, a tax credit for employers, or something else entirely? Outside of fiscal concerns, questions have been raised over how much leave should be granted, who it should be granted to, and what exactly it should be granted for.
Even still, there is bipartisan support for paid family leave. Depending of whose research you look at, Americans on both sides of the aisle consistently express between 70 to nearly 90 percent support for a federal policy. In the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican candidates Donald Trump and Marco Rubio and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders all came forward with plans for paid leave. In nearly every year since, including 2019, there have been additional proposals floated from members of both parties. The problem is that these plans are all very different, and Americans’ opinions on how to accomplish paid leave are equally wide ranging.
Most of us recognize that paid family leave is good for American workers and families. Bipartisan agreement is a rare and important first step, and now it is time to act. It seems to be only a matter of time before Congress passes a federal leave policy.