1Center or American Progress | Paid Family and Medical Leave
Fact Sheet
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Updated Labor Standards Could Help U.S. WorkersMake Ends Meet
Jane Farrell and Joanna Venator August 16, 2012
Introduction
Mos Americans are working hard o pay heir bills and o ake care o heir amilies, yeoo many employers make i impossible o juggle hose work and amily obligaions. Tedanger o losing a job or missing a promoion because o illness, pregnancy, or akingcare o loved ones when working a companies ocused solely on he botom line leavesoo many moms and dads having o choose beween heir jobs and heir amilies. Abou hal o all workers on U.S. payrolls oday are women.
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Moreover, he major-iy o mohers, wheher married or single, work ouside he home, meaning ha inmos American amilies, all o he aduls work and here is no ull-ime say-a-homecaregiver.
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Tis is no jus a “women’s issue” since he changing naure o our amiliesimpacs men and women, aduls and children. Indeed, as our populaion coninues orapidly age, more and more workers are nding hemselves providing elder care o heiraging parens as well.
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While our workorce and amilies have changed dramaically, our naion’s labor san-dards have no been updaed in decades. Tere are sensible policies ha would assisamilies while simulaneously helping employers’ botom lines, bu boh employers andpolicymakers have been slow o recognize how undamenally our lives have changedand wha needs o be done o make our workplace policies mach he way ha we liveand work oday.In his series we ideniy ve issues acing workers oday:paid sick days ,paid amily and
medical leave , workplace exibiliy ,child care , and he wage gap.As our naion has reached
a pivoal momen in hisory, policymakers will have o decide wheher hey will ake henecessary seps o suppor hardworking American amilies or wheher hey will con-inue along wih he saus quo.Here are he key acs you need o know abou he imporance o paid amily andmedical leave.
2Center or American Progress | Paid Family and Medical Leave
Paid family and medical leave
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The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee work-ers paid time off to provide care to a new child, and one of only a handful of thesenations that does not provide paid leave for other types of family care.
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The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 was an important accomplishment pro-viding unpaid, job-protected leave to recover from a serious illness, care for a newchild, or care for a seriously ill spouse, parent, or child, yet only half of all workers inthe United States are covered and eligible.
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In order o qualiy, a worker mus have been employed or a leas 12 monhs and worked a minimum o 1,250 hours duringha ime or an employer wih a leas 50 employees wihin a 75-mile radius— whichauomaically excludes abou hal o all workers.
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Young people and people o color areparicularly likely o lack job-proeced amily and medical leave.
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Even when workers are eligible for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical LeaveAct, they often cannot afford to take it.
Almos 80 percen o eligible workers who didno ake leave aer a qualiying lie even said ha hey would have had i been paid.
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Because his leave is unpaid, men are less likely o ake i o care or a new child han women are. Tis is boh because men end o earn more han women, and becausemen oen do no hink ha unpaid leave is inended or hem.
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Two states, California9 and New Jersey,10 recognize the need to make paid familyleave available to all workers and have put in place such programs over the pastdecades.
Washingon has also passed paid amily leave legislaion bu i has ye o beimplemened. Workers in oher saes have no guaranee o paid leave unless heiremployers volunarily choose o provide i.
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Only a small percentage of workers are away from work in an average week for thebirth or adoption of a child.
In he average week, only 0.4 percen o workers are ouon parenal leave.
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Women are more likely han men o be ou o work on parenalleave in any given week, which is boh because women are more likely han men oake leave, and because women ake longer leaves.
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Some workers do have access to paid family and medical leave through their work-places, but because coverage is a voluntary option for employers, it is often offeredas a perk for the highest-paid workers.
Overall, only abou 10 percen o all workershave access o paid amily leave ha includes ime of or caregiving. Bu workers whoseaverage wages are in he lowes 25 percen or heir indusry are approximaely ourimes less likely o have access o paid amily leave han hose in he highes 25 percen.
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At present, women are more likely than men to leave a job or shift from full-timeto part-time work when a new child arrives.
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Women are also more likely o leave a
3Center or American Progress | Paid Family and Medical Leave
job or make he shi rom ull- o par-ime work in order o provide ongoing care oan elderly, ailing paren.
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When men are he workers providing amily care, however,heir working hours decrease as well.
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Raher han orcing workers o reduce heirhours (i ha is even possible wih heir employer) or leave heir job alogeher, paidamily and medical leave would enable hese workers o provide care or hose in need while sill allowing hem o reurn o work once hey were able.
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By 2050 up to 20.2 percent of the American population is projected to be over theage of 65.
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A presen, nearly 20 percen o hose over he age o 65 need help wih he basic aciviies o daily living, and he majoriy o elderly people wih disabiliies livein he communiy, no nursing homes or oher care aciliies.
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While boh men and women see a reducion in heir paid work hours when providing unpaid elder care, heefec is sronger or women.
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Paid amily and medical leave would allow workers oprovide he care heir elderly parens need, wihou having o sacrice heir livelihoods.
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National data consistently show that access to any form of parental leave, paid orunpaid, makes women more likely to return to work after giving birth.
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Among new mohers who worked while pregnan and were able o ake paid leave, 9 in 10 (87.4percen) reurned o work wihin one year aer giving birh. In conras, among new mohers who had o qui heir jobs, jus less han hal (48.2 percen) reurned o work wihin a year, and among new mohers who were le go, more han hal (55.7 percen)reurned o work wihin a year.
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On op o hese benes, mohers who were able oake paid leave aer he birh o heir rs child also have presen-day wages, up o 16 years aer hey had heir child, ha are 9 percen higher han oher mohers, even aerconrolling or personal and job-relaed variables.
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Workers who experience a temporary disability, serious illness, or injury also benefitfrom the ability to take paid time away from work to recover.
In he absence o paidleave, workers may need o reurn o work earlier han is medically advisable oreconomic reasons. Tis can increase he likelihood o relapsing and, depending onhe naure o he work, may pu he worker or ohers in danger. Access o paid imeof is associaed wih workers recovering more quickly and compleely.
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In 2001, 25percen o dual-income couples and 13 percen o single-paren amilies who led or bankrupcy did so aer having o miss wo or more weeks o work due o illness, orhe illness o a amily member.
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When paid leave is offered, men are much more likely to take it.
Women currenly provide he majoriy o unpaid caregiving wihin he home— wheher i is or a childor or an elderly paren.
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Because abou 10 percen o he gender wage gap is due odiferences in he work hisories o men and women, encouraging men o ake amily leave would help reduce he sigma around leave aking, and is an imporan compo-nen o reducing he gender wage gap.
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Fact Sheet: Paid Family and Medical Leave
Fact sheet by Sarah Jane Glynn explains the importance of paid family and medical leave to help U.S. workers make ends meet.
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