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Editorial: Modest progress toward paid family leave

 
Associated Press Sen. Marco Rubio is sponsoring a family leave bill tied to Social Security.
Associated Press Sen. Marco Rubio is sponsoring a family leave bill tied to Social Security.
Published July 20, 2018

Paid family leave promotes workforce participation and makes for healthier parents and babies, but a yearslong disagreement over how to structure and pay for a national policy has left the United States behind other nations in providing even minimal support. Two proposals are gaining attention in Congress, offering hope for finally easing some of the financial stress on parents adjusting to life with a new baby or for caregivers tending to an ill relative. Those are situations many Americans will face sometime in their lives, and Congress should reach a consensus and approve a sustainable program.

Sen. Marco Rubio has announced he intends to file legislation modeled on a proposal by the Independent Women's Forum, a conservative group, that would allow parents to take up to 12 weeks each of paid leave by drawing on their future Social Security benefits early. Promoted as a "budget-neutral approach," the voluntary program would require participants to later delay retirement but would not reduce their benefits. The math works out on the theory that people make less money in their younger years — when families are having babies — than they will be earning by the time they retire. Payments would be calculated based on the tiered formula for Social Security disability benefits. The IWF has said the average worker would receive about $1,175 a month.

The approach has its flaws. Allowing people to borrow early from Social Security adds pressure to the program's ability to pay current retirees. In addition, it's a dangerous precedent to start raiding it to pay for anything other than its vital purpose of keeping people out of poverty in their old age.

A competing proposal from Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would provide paid family leave without touching Social Security by imposing a modest increase to payroll taxes. Workers could receive at least 66 percent of their pay, up to a capped amount, for a maximum of 12 weeks following a birth or adoption of a child or to care for another family member. This comprehensive approach is better because it would ensure paid leave for all working Americans while helping small employers compete with larger ones that may offer broader benefit packages.

Some 60 percent of Americans lack access to paid family leave, and only 15 percent of employers offer it. But supporting workers financially through family and health issues is a no-brainer. The birth of a child brings sudden, hefty costs, not to mention the need for time to adjust to the demands of a baby and time to bond. Women who are able to take time off are more likely to return to the workforce and earn wage increases. Fathers who use paternity leave tend to be more involved at home, easing the burden on mothers. It's all upside, at a time when workforce participation is sagging.

President Donald Trump mentioned paid family leave in his State of the Union address this year and included a proposal for six weeks of paid leave in his budget outline. His daughter, Ivanka, has helped keep attention on it. With the White House engaged and two proposals gaining steam in Congress, the moment should be finally ripe to enact a national policy that would make family demands a little easier to manage for millions of working Americans.