1Center or American Progress | The Many Beneits o Paid Family and Medical Leave
The Many Benefits of Paid Familyand Medical Leave
Our Social Security Cares Proposal Is the Best Wayto Help Families, Employers, and Our Economy Alike
Heather Boushey and Sarah Jane Glynn November 2, 2012
Introduction
American workers and heir amilies no longer look he way hey did in he 1960s. Women’s paricipaion in he labor orce has been seadily growing over ime, and women now make up abou hal o all workers. More working women is parially heresul o personal choices and parially he resul o economics. Consider ha amongamilies wih children, only hose wih boh parens working have seen real incomegrowh in he pas 30 years.
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Ye in spie o he ac ha our lives have changedso dramaically, he Unied Saes remains he only advanced economy ha does no guaranee workershe righ o paid ime o when hey need o providecare o heir amilies. Tree key acs ell he sory. Women now make up approximaely hal (49.3 per-cen as o Sepember 2012) o all workers on U.S.payrolls, compared o making up only one-hird o workers in 1967.
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Mohers are now oen he amily breadwinner. In2010, in nearly wo-hirds o amilies (63.9 per-cen), a moher was he breadwinner—bringinghome as much or more han her husband or a single working moher—or a co-breadwinner, bringinghome a leas a quarer o he amily’s earnings.
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(see Figure 1)
FIGURE 1
Mothers are the new breadwinners
Share of mothers who are breadwinners or co-breadwinners,1967-2010
010%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
63.9%27.7%16%11.7%22.5%41.4%
Co-breadwinner mothersBreadwinner mothers
Source: The New Breadwinners, 2010 Update
2Center or American Progress | The Many Beneits o Paid Family and Medical Leave
As a resul, mos children are growing up in a amily wihou a ull-ime, say-a-home care-giver. In 2011, among amilies wih children, 40 percen were headed by wo working par-ens, and anoher one in hree (31.9 percen) were headed by a single paren.
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Only abouone in ve children oday (20.7 percen) live in a amily wih a radiional male breadwin-ner/emale homemaker, compared o nearly hal (44.7 percen) a generaion ago.
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Unorunaely, unlike our indusrialized compeiors, he insiuions around us—schools,churches, workplaces, and governmen—have no adjused a he same pace o reec herealiies o how our amilies work and live oday.
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(see able 1) Te negaive consequencesresuling rom he lack o a ederal paid leave program are el across a variey o domains,rom individual homes o our economy wri large.
TABLE 1
The United States—the paid leave outlier
International comparisons of parental leave—weeks of full-time equivalent paid and unpaid leave
Parental leave
Weeks of paid leave,in full-time equivalentsWeeks of unpaid leaveTotal weeks of leave(paid and unpaid)France22296318Spain18294312Germany47123170Sweden47116163Norway44106150Austria16100116United Kingdom136780Ireland214970Italy254469Australia95261Greece342660Japan263258New Zealand144054Canada282553Denmark203252Finland321648Belgium182543Netherlands162642Portugal181331United States02424Switzerland11314
Sources: Rebecca Ray, Janet C. Gornick, and John Schmitt, “Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries: Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality”(Washington, D.C.: Center or Economic and Policy Research, 2008); Commonwealth o Australia, “Australia’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme: SupportingWorking Australian Families” (2009).
3Center or American Progress | The Many Beneits o Paid Family and Medical Leave
o address his, he Cener or American Progress proposes Congress enac and hepresiden sign Social Securiy Cares, legislaion rs oulined in our repor “HelpingBreadwinners When I Can’ Wai” and included in he Cener’s proposal o modern-ize Social Securiy, “Building I Up, No earing I Down.”
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Tis issue brie deails he benes o Social Securiy Cares.
Social Security Cares: The basics
Our proposal builds on he dynamic hisory o Social Securiy reorm o mee hechanging needs o he American workorce alongside urher developing hemes in heFamily and Medical Leave Ac as well as recen sae eors o ensure ha i is craed oinclude all workers who need access o such benes. Te proposed program builds onhe kind o qualiying condiions recognized under he Family and Medical Leave Ac o 1993 o help workers who need ime ou o he labor orce provide care or a seriously illamily member, recover rom heir own illness, or bond wih and care or a new child.Te implemenaion o Social Securiy Cares would have ar-reaching posiive conse-quences. Specically:•Social Securiy Cares was conceived o address he needs o our increasingly diverse workorce. I would give new parens; hose wih amily caregiving responsibiliies,including amily caregivers o he elderly, one o he ases growing segmens o hepopulaion; and workers who experience a serious illness or acciden ime or care when hey and heir amilies need i mos, encouraging healhy recoveries rom ill-nesses boh or workers and heir loved ones
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•Social Securiy Cares would increase he number o workers who have access o paidmedical and caregiving leave, which will ensure ha all workers who pay ino hesysem can receive paid leave when hey need i, in addiion o helping workers betermanage heir dual responsibiliies as workers and caregivers.•Social Securiy Cares would increase he labor orce paricipaion o caregivers, resul-ing in greaer economic securiy in heir reiremen while a he same ime helping oshore up he Social Securiy rus Fund.•Social Securiy Cares would promoe greaer gender equiy and be an imporanadvancemen in working o close he wage gap beween men and women. I also rec-ognizes, imporanly, ha men are reporing more work-lie conic han women andhey, oo, wan o be able o spend more ime wih heir amilies.
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•Social Securiy Cares would do all o his wihou presening a signican cos o busi-
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The Many Benefits of Paid Family and Medical Leave
Implementing a paid leave program such as Social Security Cares would help bring the United States up to par relative to other nations’ labor standards, and it would help facilitate the dual roles of worker and caregiver that most adults will experience at some point in their lives.
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