It’s Time for Conservatives to Lead on Paid Family Leave
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Heartland of America is known for hard work, strong communities, and practical solutions. One practical solution with benefits to both our workforce and communities is paid family leave, which would give every family in America the opportunity to spend the first few months together after the birth or adoption of a child.
Paid leave is good for children. Studies show that a child’s brain development and future mental health is dependent on social and emotional experiences in these first months of life. Paid leave is good for parents, relieving them of the financial stress of caring for a new child while away from work. And paid leave is good for employers, who can retain qualified employees that might otherwise leave the workforce. Yet currently only 19% of workers and 9% of low-wage workers have access to paid family leave.
The social benefit of paid family leave is easy to grasp. Families that spend more time together are stronger, resulting in healthier and more productive individuals, who in turn contribute to strong communities and economies. But is paid family leave fiscally responsible? I was skeptical until I attended a virtual summit on paid family leave keynoted by former senator Rick Santorum, who has long advocated for strengthening families as the basic units of society. I learned that paid family leave makes both microeconomic and macroeconomic sense.
The birth or adoption of a child is one of the most significant inflection points in a person’s life. Child rearing is the stage at which many women choose to change careers or drop out of the workforce. Paid family leave serves as a “bridge” for employment, allowing women to meet the needs of a child at this crucial time and then return to a job. This results in greater workforce attachment and higher wages for a woman in the long run.
Pew Research found that in households with under $30,000 in income who didn’t receive full pay during parental leave, 57% took on debt. 48% of households went on public assistance, pointing to the macroeconomic implications of paid family leave. A Rutgers study similarly found that paid leave reduced the likelihood of using food stamps by 40% in the year following a child’s birth. A small, upfront investment in paid family leave can prevent a lifelong dependence on public assistance. Paid family leave can also help us reverse America’s plummeting birthrate of 1.71 live births per woman, compared to the 2.1 needed to maintain the tax base.
One of the most common arguments against paid family leave is that it will hurt employers. But none of the plans proposed by Republicans in Congress have mandates on business. These programs would benefit employers, particularly small businesses, by allowing them to offer a benefit they previously couldn’t afford. Polls from California, the state with longest-standing paid family leave program, show 90 percent of employers reported a positive or no impact to their business as a result of paid family leave.
Seventy-one percent of registered voters support paid leave for parents, including 65% of conservatives, which means that federal legislation on paid family leave is likely coming soon. Conservatives must lead to ensure a federal program is funded responsibly. Without such leadership, we will achieve the outcome most Americans want, but at a much greater cost to society. Fortunately, several Republicans are already stepping up to engage with responsible funding solutions, including Indiana Senator Todd Young, who is part of a bipartisan working group that is exploring solutions.
Paid family leave is good for children, parents, employers, and society. There is a cost to taxpayers in making this benefit available to all Americans, but I would rather invest in strengthening families today than provide more costly support tomorrow. I encourage Hoosiers to educate themselves on the paid family leave proposals being considered in Congress and urge their elected officials to lead on this issue with practical and fiscally responsible solutions. The strength of Hoosier families and communities depends on it.
Rob Panos is Chief of Staff at Sagamore Institute, an Indianapolis-based think tank known for practical solutions to society’s biggest problems. Learn more at www.SagamoreInstitute.org. To learn more about paid family leave solutions and watch the virtual summit visit www.PaidLeaveForFamilies.com.