The administration’s paid parental leave proposal falls woefully short of what working people and families need.
States would pay parents of a new child for 6 weeks using already strained unemployment insurance funds whose benefits are too low for most families. It also excludes 75% of leave-takers who need to care for self or a seriously ill family member. And, it would add to gender discrimination; employers assume women are more likely to take parental leave.
We need a bill like the FAMILY Act that covers all caregiving, rather than too little time and money for too few people.
– Carol Joyner, Director, Labor Project for Working Families in partnership with Family Values @ Work