Can the US Afford Paid Leave? YES!
Posted November 27th, 2009 by Valerie YoungFrom Your (Wo)manInWashington blog
When the subject of paid leave comes up, someone will say: “Oh, no, we could never pay for that, it would be too expensive!!” It’s the Voice of Doom, and I hear it frequently.
So often repeated, I know it by heart. It will destroy small businesses. It would push taxes over the cliff. The government is already too far in the red. So, while everyone agrees in theory that maternity leave, paternity leave, sick leave for yourself or to care for an ill family member, school leave, and breastfeeding breaks at work might possibly be a good thing, the conversation pretty much shuts down when the specter of co$t arises. We’ve been stuck there for decades.
No more.
Thanks to a fresh look at some hard data, that argument is officially off the table.
Would it surprise you to know that the countries with the most competitive economies and the lowest rate of unemployment are mostly the very same countries that offer paid parental leave, paid sick days, and breastfeeding breaks at work? It’s true. Consider the following:
- - Good workplace policies are not related to higher national unemployment rates.
- - The most economically competitive nations in the world have good workplace policies.
- - The United States has a highly competitive economy but, unlike every other top-performing country, no good workplace policies.
That’s the take-away from RAISING THE GLOBAL FLOOR: Dismantling the Myth That We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone, an 8 year study comparing the labor policies of 190 countries. Labor laws establishing a worker’s right to paid sick leave, and maternity or parental leave, improve the quality of jobs and allow workers to deal effectively with family obligations while maintaining their connection to employment. National leave policies and sane work schedules (no “sweat shop” hours) do not put a downward drag on a vigorous, healthy economy. The funding method varies from country to country, and usually includes minimal contributions from both employees and employers with some public sector incentives. Countries with reliable programs for child care, sick leave, and health insurance are actually attractive to companies looking for healthy workers with ample opportunity to deal realistically with the natural occurences in life, like birth, death, and illness.
So, tell the Voice of Doom to go away. The only reason we don’t have real world necessities like paid time off for a child with flu, or a spouse with a health crisis, or a brand new baby, is because we have not yet made it a political priority. That’s the only reason.
The pithy press release is here.
You can learn more at RaisingTheGlobalFloor.org.
Click here to read more posts from Your (Wo)manInWashington blog
6 Comments
where i think so It is up to the community – armed with conclusive evidence that a scheme is good for babies, good for parents and good for the economy – to show the Government that we are not convinced by the rhetoric, and to let them know that it isn’t good enough to say ‘maybe next year’. We are one of only two OECD countries to be without a comprehensive paid parental leave scheme, and we have waited long enough.
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December 14, 2009 at 4:42 pm by Silver StreakWhat can we do to change this? How can we help creating more rights for employees, specifically women?
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December 2, 2009 at 4:19 pm by MarinaIf most of the world can afford it – why can not US?
I had a year of full salary paid leave in Ukraine and then two more years of half-salary paid leave. Now in US i had to come back to work 6 days after c-section, I had one paid day leave and have to keep teaching my classes being incredibly weak – because US “can not” afford at least a couple of month for women to take care of themselves and the kids. I can tell you – if you are looking for the reason of the number of sick, autistic etc kids here- do not look any furhter – here is the reason, the mother has to go bakc to work right after having the baby. I’m lucky – i brought my mother here to watch the baby, otherwise i probably would not pull through.
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December 2, 2009 at 2:06 pm by Amy CrossSo glad someone has put some quantitative scientific research into this issue.
I think paid parental leave would help the American economy, by not making so many women leave the workforce, and by making children’s first year of life happier–and her mother’s.
While I’m sad that I left the US to live with a Canadian, I’m thankful I had my babies here where I got 6 months off for each. (Now women get a year). I don’t think I would have hacked it otherwise.
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December 2, 2009 at 11:08 am by S BordasI live in Dominican Republic and as long as I can remember, women workers get 3 months PAID maternity leave, fathers one week, and whoever fires a pregnant women has to pay the rest of her pregnancy plus 3 months plus severance pay. And there are all types of businesses here (big and micro), but those rights are a given and NOBODY questions them. I really am shocked that in the US those rights are not implemented and I really hope that changes.
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November 28, 2009 at 6:13 am by MYOMY architectual interior designcan it really comes true??
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