The Many Benefits of Paid Family and Medical Leave

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1 Center or American Progress |The Many Beneits o Paid Family and Medi cal Leave

The Many Benefits of Paid Family

and Medical LeaveOur Social Security Cares Proposal Is the Best Way

to 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.

Womens 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 he

resul o personal choices and parially he resul o economics. Consider ha among

amilies wih children, only hose wih boh parens working have seen real income

growh in he pas 30 years.1

Ye in spie o he ac ha our lives have changed

so dramaically, he Unied Saes remains he only

advanced economy ha does no guaranee workershe righ o paid ime o when hey need o provide

care 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 1967.2

Mohers are now oen he amily breadwinner. In

2010, in nearly wo-hirds o amilies (63.9 per-

cen), a moher was he breadwinnerbringing

home as much or more han her husband or a single

working moheror a co-breadwinner, bringing

home a leas a quarer o he amily s earnings.3

(see Figure 1)

FIGURE 1

Mothers are the new breadwinners

Share of mothers who are breadwinners or co-breadwinners,

1967-2010

0

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 201

63.9%

27.7%

16%

11.7%

22.5%

41.4%

Co-breadwinner mothers

Breadwinner mothers

Source: The New Breadwinners, 2010 Update


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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.4 Only abou

one 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.5

Unorunaely, unlike our indusrialized compeiors, he insiuions around usschools,churches, workplaces, and governmenhave no adjused a he same pace o reec he

realiies o how our amilies work and live oday.6 (see able 1) Te negaive consequences

resuling 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 Statesthe paid leave outlier

International comparisons of parental leaveweeks of full-time equivalent paid and unpaid leave

Parental leave

Weeks of paid leave,

in full-time equivalentsWeeks of unpaid leave

Total weeks of leave

(paid and unpaid)

France 22 296 318

Spain 18 294 312

Germany 47 123 170

Sweden 47 116 163

Norway 44 106 150

Austria 16 100 116

United Kingdom 13 67 80

Ireland 21 49 70

Italy 25 44 69

Australia 9 52 61

Greece 34 26 60

Japan 26 32 58

New Zealand 14 40 54

Canada 28 25 53

Denmark 20 32 52

Finland 32 16 48

Belgium 18 25 43

Netherlands 16 26 42

Portugal 18 13 31

United States 0 24 24

Switzerland 11 3 14

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, Australias Paid Parental Leave Scheme: SupportingWorking Australian Families (2009).


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o address his, he Cener or American Progress proposes Congress enac and he

presiden sign Social Securiy Cares, legislaion rs oulined in our repor Helping

Breadwinners When I Can Wai and included in he Ceners proposal o modern-

ize Social Securiy, Building I Up, No earing I Down. 7 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 he

changing needs o he American workorce alongside urher developing hemes in he

Family and Medical Leave Ac as well as recen sae eors o ensure ha i is craed o

include all workers who need access o such benes. Te proposed program builds on

he 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 ill

amily member, recover rom heir own il lness, 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 he

populaion; 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.

Social Securiy Cares would increase he number o workers who have access o paid

medical and caregiving leave, which will ensure ha all workers who pay ino he

sysem can receive paid leave when hey need i, in addiion o helping workers beter

manage 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 o

shore up he Social Securiy rus Fund.

Social Securiy Cares would promoe greaer gender equiy and be an imporan

advancemen 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 and

hey, oo, wan o be able o spend more ime wih heir amilies.8

Social Securiy Cares would do all o his wihou presening a signican cos o busi-


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nesses. In ac, or hose organizaions ha already provide paid amily and medical

leave ou o company coers, Social Securiy Cares could resul in cos savings.

Tis modernizaion o Social Securiy would ap ino radiional American valuesha

amily comes rs and ha i you work hard and pay ino he sysem, you will be able o

access help when you and your amily need i.

Tis core value o he American work ehic is par o he reason why Social Securiy has

one o he highes levels o public suppor o any argeed governmen program. More

han 60 percen o aduls have consisenly raed Social Securiy as one o he mos

imporan governmen programs or he las quarer cenury.9 And more han 80 percen

o aduls believe ha everyone who pays ino Social Securiy should be able o receive

benes, reecing our basic American values regarding he imporance o amily, air-

ness, and he reward o hard work.10

Tere is hisorical precedence or his proposed new program. Social Securiy has, in ac,

evolved over ime o serve Americans changing needs.11

Te Social Securiy Ac wasoriginally passed in 1935 o provide income securiy or seniors, bu i has grown since

hen o include Social Securiy Disabiliy Insurance, benes or workers who are expeced

o be ou o work due o disabiliy or a year or more (1956); and Supplemenal Securiy

Income, a purely need-based income or persons wih disabiliies (1972).12

Social Securiy has also adaped o shiing demographics over he decades. In 1983

Congress ensured ha unds would be available o susain aging baby boomers by pre-

empively boosing revenue and adjusing he reiremen age.13 Social Securiy has also

demonsraed i has he capaciy o handle claims quickly, hrough he Compassionae

Allowances Iniiaive and Quick Disabiliy Deerminaions, programs ha expedie heapplicaions o workers whose medical condiions make hem more likely o qualiy or

Social Securiy Disabiliy Insurance.

Tere is every reason o be opimisic, hereore, abou he implemenaion o Social

Securiy Cares.14 Te commissioner o he Social Securiy Adminisraion would

esablish an Ofce o Paid Family and Medical Leave wihin he agency o adminiser

he Social Securiy Cares program. In his way, he experise o he Social Securiy

Adminisraion sa would be immediaely brough o bear designing and implemening

he new law, relying on heir experience a seting sandards, evaluaing applicaions, and

adjudicaing dispues.15

More than 60

percent o adults

have consistently

rated Social

Security as one o

the most importan

government

programs orthe last quarter

century.


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Social Security Cares: What is it?

Social Securiy Cares would provide up o 12 weeks o paid leave o qualiying workers

experiencing he ollowing lie evens:

Te birh o a newborn or he arrival o a newly adoped or osered child

Te serious illness o a spouse, domesic parner, paren, or child Te workers own serious illness ha limis his or her abiliy o work

Te Family and Medical Leave Ac o 1993 already provides unpaid, job-proeced leave

or hese hree kinds o evens, bu only abou hal o he workorce qualies or his

leave, and many canno aord o ake i because i is unpaid.

Eligibiliy or Social Securiy Cares would be calculaed using he same employmen

hisory crieria as Social Securiy Disabiliy Insurance. I akes ino accoun a workers

lieime employmen hisory, raher han heir enure wih a specic employer. And he

calculaions are age-adjused, meaning young workers can qualiy wih ewer years oemploymen han older workers.

Tere are several ways ha Social Securiy Cares could be unded. Tese alernaives

are laid ou in our repors, Helping Breadwinners When I Can Wai and Building

I Up, No earing I Down.16 Building on he model se ou by he wo saes ha have

a paid amily and medical leave program, Caliornia and New Jersey, i he ull cos was

unded by an increase in payroll axes, he cos or he average ull-ime worker earning

he median hourly wage o $16.57 would be abou $1.33 per week, less han he cos o a

cup o coee rom mos chain resaurans.17

Social Securiy Cares is a social insurance program, no a social welare program. Social

insurance programs uncion because all workers pay ino he sysem in order o pool

coss and risks. As a resul, like wih Social Securiy reiremen benes, i is imporan

ha he workers who pay ino he sysem know ha he program will be here or hem

when hey need i.

Tis means ha Social Securiy Cares has much broader coverage han he Family and

Medical Leave Ac. In order o qualiy or leave under he Family Medical Leave Ac, a

worker mus have been employed or a leas 12 monhs and have worked a minimum

o 1,250 hours during ha ime or an employer wih a leas 50 employees wihin a

75-mile radius.18 Te job-enure and employer-size requiremens auomaically exclude

hal o all privae-secor workers.19 Young people and people o color are paricularly

likely o be excluded rom aking job-proeced FMLA leave.20


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Social Security Cares will enable workers to help provide care to

children, aging baby-boomers, the sick, and people with disabilities

Because mos amilies no longer have a ull-ime, say-a-home caregiver, mos work-

ers need ime o rom work o provide care when a new child comes ino he amily

or when an ailing amily member needs help. While much o he research and discus-

sion on paid amily leave is cenered around leave or parens, specically maerniyand paerniy leave aer he arrival o a new child, babies and children are no he only

amily members who can need a grea deal o care and atenion. Everyone has a paren

a some poin in heir lie, and illness, accidens, and disabiliies are by heir very naure

unplanned and unoreseen.

Elder care is a growing naional issue. I is projeced ha by 2050 up o 20.2 percen o

he American populaion will be over he age o 65.21 A presen nearly 20 percen o

hose over he age o 65 need help wih he basic aciviies o daily living.22 And while

he overall proporion o disabled elderly persons has declined, increases in people over

he age o 65 have resuled in large numbers o elderly people who need care.23

Te majoriy o elderly people wih disabiliies live in he communiy, no in nursing

homes or care aciliies, wih amily members providing he majoriy o daily care.24 In

he same way ha women are expeced o provide he majoriy o child care, hey are

also he mos likely amily members o be enlised o provide unpaid care o he elderly.

As a resul, more han wo-hirds o he unpaid caregivers or he elderly are women.25

Providing care o an elderly amily member akes a oll on employmen. Boh men

and women see a reducion in heir paid work hours when providing unpaid elder

care, bu he eec is sronger or women.26

While men who provide wo or morehours o care o heir elderly parens per week experienced a 28 percen reducion in

heir paid employmen hours, muliple sudies have ound ha womens work reduc-

ion was more han 40 percen.27

Women who live wih heir elderly parens see he larges dip in heir work hours. Te

majoriy o his reducion is due o wihdrawal rom he work orce, raher han an

acual reducion in hours. In shor, or hese women, leaving work and moving in wih

heir elderly parens or having heir parens move in wih hem is likely o be he resul

o heir caregiving responsibiliies, raher han he reason hey eleced o be he ones

providing care in he rs place.28

Raher han orcing workers o reduce heir hours (i ha is even possible wih heir

employer) or leave heir job alogeher, paid amily and medical leave insurance would

enable hese workers o provide care or hose in need while sill allowing hem o reurn

o work once heir paren is in beter healh.

Elder care is

a growing

national issue.

It is projected

that by 2050 up

to 20.2 percent

o the Americanpopulation will be

over the age o 65


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Adul children o aging parens are no he only ones who oen nd hemselves reduc-

ing heir work hours o care or a loved one. Te U.S. Deparmen o Healh and Human

Services esimaes ha abou 15 percen o U.S. children (11.2 million in oal) have

special healh care needs.29 Tis means ha more han one in ve households wih

children have a leas one child who has special needs. And o hose amilies, 25 percen

have had o eiher cu back heir hours or sop working all ogeher in order o provide

care or heir child.30

While Social Securiy Cares would be o less use o parens whose children have pro-

ound, permanen disabiliies ha require around he clock care, i would help parens

whose children may have are-ups, or periods o ime when hey require more care han

hey normally do. Abou 1.4 million special needs children, or example, missed 11 or

more days o school due o illness, and Social Securiy Cares would allow parens o say

home and care or hese kids unil hey were well enough o reurn o school, wihou

having o risk losing all o heir wages.31

Social Security Cares will sharply increase access to paid family

and medical leave insurance, especially among the least paid

wo saes, Caliornia and New Jersey, recognize he need o make paid amily leave

insurance available o all workers, having pu in place such programs over he pas

decades.32 Te sae o Washingon also passed paid amily leave legislaion, bu i has ye

o be implemened.33 Workers in oher saes have no guaranee o paid leave unless heir

employers volunarily choose o provide i.

Some workers do have access o paid amily and medical leave hrough heir workplaces,bu because coverage is a volunary opion or employers, i is oen oered as a perk or

he highes-paid workers. Overall, slighly less han hal o all workers (45.5 percen)

repor having access o paid parenal leave, which could be leave specically or serious

illnesses or when a new child comes ino he amily or anoher kind o leave, such as

vacaion or sick days, which can be used when amily leave is necessary.

Abou a hird (32.3 percen) repor having access o some orm o paid leave ha can be

used when a child is ill or needs special care. Bu workers whose average wages are in he

lowes 20 percen or heir indusry are approximaely six imes less likely o have access

o paid parenal leave and nearly seven imes less likely o have access o paid leave hey

can use or child care han hose in he highes 20 percen.34

In 2011 only 37 percen o privae-secor workers had shor-erm disabiliy insur-

ance, which provides income suppor o workers wih a serious illness and, hanks o

he Pregnancy Discriminaion Ac, mus cover boh pregnancy-relaed leave as well as

medical leave. Coverage raes, however, are uneven. Coverage is lower or par-ime and


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lower-wage workers;35 women o color are less likely o have access o paid maerniy

leave; and he odds o having coverage decrease or all women he younger hey are or

he less educaion hey have.36

Mens access o parenal leave has increased over ime, hough sill less han hal (44.5

percen) o male workers have even a single day o paid paerniy leave available hrough

heir employer. And as wih women, men o color, younger men, and men wih less edu-caion are all less likely o have access o paid paerniy leave.37 Even among Forune 100

companies9 ou o 10 o which oered some orm o paid leave ha could be aken

aer he arrival o a new babyonly a hird oered paid paerniy leave o men. 38

As a resul, workers are oen le wih ew opions when hey need ime away rom work

o provide care o heir amilies or because hey have a work-limiing illness. For mos,

he only opions are o cobble ogeher whaever orms o leave hey may already have,

such as vacaion or sick leaveeach o which only abou 60 percen o workers have

access o in he rs place and which is oen inadequaeor qui.39 Unless a worker

is lucky enough o have an employer ha volunarily oers paid leave, which usuallymeans hey are higher-wage employees, he choices available o hem may be less han

opimal, or hey may have no real choices a all.

Using our preerred eligibiliy crieria, he vas majoriy o workers would be covered

under Social Securiy Cares (See ables 2 and 3).40 Using he mos conservaive esimaes,

nearly our in ve aduls (78.7 percen) would be eligible or paid leave, including almos

hree-quarers o women (73.1 percen), and almos our in ve parens wih young chil-

dren (79.0 percen wih a child under age 3, and 78.9 percen o parens wih a child under

age 6). Almos our in ve aduls beween he ages o 25 and 35 would be covered (78.3

percen); nearly our in ve Arican Americans (77.7 percen); and nearly hree-quarerso Lainos (74.4 percen) would be eligible or Social Securiy Cares.

TABLE 2

Mapping the rules for a national paid family and medical leave program

Estimated share of adults eligible under various family leave insurance program criteria, 2005

Social Security Disability Insurance Family and Medical Leave Act

More

conservative

estimate

Less

conservative

estimate

California Paid

Family Leave

New Jersey

Family Leave

Insurance

Washington

Family Leave

Insurance

More

conservative

estimate

Less

conservative

estimate

Estimated shareof adults eligible

for the program

in 2005

78.7 90.8 74.8 68.9 66.7 63.7 63.8

Notes: Sample includes only those in the survey or at least 24 months. All dierences between Social Security Cares, both or ull-time and any employment, and other programs are statisti-cally signifcant at the .01 percent level. See: Boushey and Glynn, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave or Todays Families and Workplaces or more details on our method.

Source: Center or American Progress analysis o the Center or Economic and Policy Research Survey o Income and Program Participation 2004 panel and program rules.


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TABLE 3

Mapping the rules for different groups in a national paid family and medical leave program

Estimated share of adults eligible for paid family and medical leave insurance programs by demographic groups, 2005

Social Security

Disability Insurance

(more conservative

estimate)

California Paid

Family Leave

New Jersey Family

Leave Insurance

Washington Family

Leave Insurance

Family and Medical

Leave Act (more

conservative

estimate)

Male 84.5 78.5 73.4 71.8 70.4

Female 73.1 71.1 64.6 61.8 57.4

Ages 18 to 24 80.0 74.3 60.1 54.3 37.1

Ages 25 to 34 78.3 82.3 76.6 75.2 66.2

Ages 35 to 44 79.5 78.2 74.0 71.8 71.7

Ages 45 to 54 81.2 75.4 71.6 70.2 72.8

Ages 55 to 64 73.2 59.7 55.0 53.4 57.3

White 80.2 75.3 69.9 67.5 67.0

Black 77.7 74.4 67.6 65.2 56.2

Hispanic 74.4 73.8 67.1 65.7 57.0

Other 73.5 71.2 64.6 62.6 58.3

Less than high

school education66.9 58.0 50.0 49.2 41.8

High school

education77.0 71.4 64.8 62.8 57.6

Some college

education81.7 77.1 71.7 68.0 65.6

College education 80.9 80.2 75.9 74.2 74.2

Post-college

education78.0 80.6 77.6 75.5 80.2

Parents of a child

under age 3 79.0 75.3 68.7 66.3 60.6

Parents of a child

under age 678.9 75.1 69.1 66.7 61.9

Notes: See Table 1. All dierences between Social Security Cares, both or ull-time and any employment, and the state programs and the Family and Medical Leave Act are statistically signif-cant at the 1.01 percent level, with three exceptions. The dierence between eligibility or Social Security Cares and Caliornias program is statistically insignifcant or H ispanics and individualswith a college degree, as is the di erence between Social Security Cares and the New Jersey program or individuals with a post-college degree.

Source: Center or American Progress analysis o the Center or Economic and Policy Research Survey o Income and Program Participation 2004 panel and program rules.


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As a mater o comparison, according o he U.S. Census Bureau beween 2006 o 2008,

wo-hirds (66.3 percen) o new mohers wih a bachelors degree or more were able o

ake paid leave. (see Figure 2) Bu less han one in ve (18.5 percen) new moms wih less

han a high school diploma had access o paid leave aer he birh o a childhe same

rae o coverage as in he early 1960s.41 In conras, wo-hirds (66.9 percen) o workers

wih less han a high school degree would be covered under Social Securiy Cares.

Social Security Cares will

increase the labor force

participation of caregivers

Tough i may seem counerin-

uiive, oering paid leave makes

workers more likely o reurn o

employmen, and o reurn more

quickly, han i hey are red ororced o qui when hey need

caregiving leave. Reurning o

work more quickly means ha

skills do no have ime o aro-

phy, and job enure and senioriy

is accrued more rapidly. Boh

wages and reiremen income

increase as a resul.42

Enabling more people o workconsisenly hroughou heir lives

also boass he bene o increas-

ing payroll ax conribuions o

he Social Securiy rus Fund.

Te benes here are woold: Workers greaer conribuions resul in boh greaer eco-

nomic securiy in heir old age and conribue signicanly o he Social Securiy coers. 43

A presen, women are more likely han men o leave a job or shi rom ull-ime o

par-ime work when a new child arrives.44 Women also are more likely o leave a job or

make he shi rom ull- o par-ime work in order provide ongoing care o an elderly,

ailing paren.45 Bu when men are he workers providing amily care, heir working hours

decrease as well.46 Some workers are le wih litle opion bu o make such a choice, as

hey ace workplaces wih no paid amily leave policies or inexible scheduling pracices.

Te ac ha many caregivers mus drop ou o he workorce o provide amily care can lead

o a lieime o greaer economic insecuriy. As workers wih care responsibiliies wihdraw

FIGURE 2

Most non-college mothers do not get paid leave after childbirth

Percentage of new mothers using some form of paid leave after birth (includes paid

maternity, sick, vacation, and/or other paid leave)

0

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Less than high school

High school graduate

Some college

Bachelors degree or higher

1961-1965 1971-1975 1981-1985 1991-1995 2001-2005 2006-2008

Source: U.S. Bureau o the Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns o First-Time Mothers: 19612008, (Washington: Department

o Commerce, 2011).


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rom he workorce or limi heir ime a work, hey ake home less income in he shor run;

are less likely o earn raises and promoions a he same pace; have less access o workplace

reiremen benes; earn less in Social Securiy reiremen benes; and accumulae lower

lieime earnings.47 I workers have access o paid, job-proeced amily leave upon he birh

o a child or he serious illness o a amily member, hey are much more likely o be able o

reurn o he workorce and o have higher earnings over heir lieimes.48

While here are a variey o reasons ha a worker would need o ake paid leave, mos o

he research ocuses on maerniy leave. Naional daa consisenly shows ha access o

any orm o parenal leave, paid or unpaid, makes women more likely o reurn o work

aer giving birh.49 Among new mohers who worked while pregnan and were able

o ake paid leave, 9 in 10 (87.4 percen) 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) o women reurned o work wihin a year.50

Whas more, mohers who were able o ake paid maerniy leave aer he birh o heirrs child also have presen-day wages ha, up o 16 years aer hey had ha child, are 9

percen higher han he wages o oher mohers, even aer conrolling or personal and

job-relaed variables.51

Workers who experience a emporary disabiliy, serious illness, or injury also bene

rom he abiliy o ake paid ime away rom work o recover. In he absence o paid

leave, workers may need o reurn o work earlier han is medically advisable or eco-

nomic reasons. Tis can increase he likelihood o relapsing, and depending on he

naure o he work may pu he worker or ohers in danger. Access o paid ime o is

associaed wih workers recovering more quickly and compleely.52

Unorunaely, reliable, naionally represenaive analysis on he employmen impacs o

shor-erm bu serious illnesses or workers is no currenly available. Bu i is no unreason-

able o suspec ha he eecs o saying in he labor orce or workers who need medical

leave would be similar o hose o workers who need caregiving leave. In 2001 25 percen

o dual-income couples and 13 percen o single-paren amilies led or bankrupcy aer

having o miss wo or more weeks o work due o personal illness or he illness o a am-

ily member.53 A leas a porion o hose bankrupcies would likely have been avoided had

hose workers had access o a naional paid amily and medical leave insurance program.

Social Security Cares will promote gender equity

Mos working ahers (65 percen) say ha hey believe boh parens should divide

caregiving responsibiliies wihin a amily equally.54 Ye only 30 percen acually repor

having an equal division o labor wihin heir home. A leas some o his problem is

because men are less likely o ake leave aer he arrival o a child han women.


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I is imporan o noe ha men do no eschew unpaid leave because hey do no wan

o ake care o heir amilies, bu raher because he wage gap and lack o paid leave cur-

renly makes i economically raional or women o ake ime o raher han men. Paid

leave would enable men o ake caregiving leave, boh o bond wih new children and o

care or ill amily members, wihou requiring a oal loss o income or ha ime.

While he gender wage gap has narrowed some as womens educaion atainmen andlabor orce paricipaion has increased, i has remained saic or he las several years,

wih ull-ime working womens median annual income in 2010 coming in a a palry 77

percen o mens.55 Women o color are disadvanaged even urher because heir earn-

ings are even lower relaive o whie men han or whie women.56 Even when conrol-

ling or occupaion, educaion, and experience, economiss canno explain abou 10

percen o he wage gap.57

Because o he gender pay gap and womens lower lieime labor orce paricipaion,

women and heir amilies lose an asounding $431,000 on average in income over a

lieime.58

For women under age 35, he wage gap beween mohers and non-mohers isgreaer han he gap beween women and men. Te mohers wage penaly is esimaed

a approximaely 7 percen per child, and jus under one-hird o he gap is atribued o

he consequences o aking leave. More han 40 percen o he gap canno be atribued

o any measurable produciviy-relaed characerisic.59

Te Family and Medical Leave Ac provides boh men and women wih equal amouns o

leave, which should help close he gender gap. By giving boh mohers and ahers access

o leave and boh men and women ime o care or a seriously ill loved one, he law should

increase leave-aking among men and hus help reduce he lieime gender gap.

Ye because he leave is unpaid, men have lower ake-up or caregiver leave han do

women (alhough hey have higher ake-up or leave or heir own serious illness).60

Recen research in Caliornia is nding ha when paid leave is oered, men are much

more likely o ake i.61 Because abou 10 percen o he gender wage gap is due o di-

erences in he work hisories o men and women, encouraging men o ake amily leave

would help o reduce he sigma around aking leave, which is an imporan componen

o reducing he gender wage gap.

Because leave under he Family and Medical Leave Ac is unpaid, workers, especially

male workers, oen canno aord o ake i. Almos 80 percen o eligible workers who

did no ake leave aer a qualiying lie even said ha hey would have had i been

paid.62 Because his leave is unpaid, men are less likely o ake i o care or a new child

han women. Tis is boh because men end o earn more han women, and because

men oen do no hink ha unpaid leave is inended or hem.

Because o the

gender pay gap

and womens

lower lietime labo

orce participation,

women and their

amilies lose

an astounding

$431,000 on

average in income

over a lietime.


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Tere is reason o believe ha he unexplained porions o he wage gap, boh beween

men and women and beween mohers and childless women, are due o discriminaion.

Because women end o be he caregivers or heir amilies and are more likely o ake ime

ou o he workorce when amily care needs arise, employers may erroneously believe

ha women are less serious abou heir careers and are less dependable workers han men.

Enabling men o ake caregiving leave would help o challenge hese oudaed gender se-

reoypes and promoe more gender equiable workplaces or boh men and women.

Social Security Cares would save businesses money

While he majoriy o workers do no have access o paid amily and medical leave, here

are some who do. Teir employers recognize ha oering generous benes is no only a

good recruiing ool, bu i also saves money in he long run. Large corporaions employ-

ing proessional workers, among hem Microso Corp. and Google Inc., oen provide a

hos o benes, including paid leave, o help recrui and reain workers.63 A naional paid

amily leave insurance program would help level he playing eld or smaller businessesha may no be able o aord o nance generous leave policies on heir own.

When workers are aced wih a serious illness or caregiving responsibiliies ha are incom-

paible wih heir work schedules, hose who do no have access o paid leave oen have

no choice bu o qui heir jobs. Tis no only has a negaive economic impac on individu-

als and heir amilies, bu on he businesses ha were employing hem as well. Wih he

excepion o he mos highly rained and highly paid proessions, which are more likely o

have access o paid leave already, i coss businesses abou one-h o an employees salary

o replace hem.64 A paid amily and medical leave insurance program would no only help

businesses reain he valuable experience and insiiional knowledge heir workers possessby helping hose workers say employed, bu would also save hem money.

Surveys o employers in Caliornia aer he implemenaion o he saes paid amily

leave insurance program illusrae how naional legislaion could bene no jus work-

ers bu businesses as well. Te vas majoriy o employers repored eiher no eec or

a posiive eec on employee morale (99 percen); proabiliy and/or perormance

(91 percen); and produciviy (89 percen).65 Noably, small businesses were even less

likely han large employers (hose wih less han 100 workers) o sae ha hey experi-

enced any negaive eecs rom he law.

Paid leave insurance saves money by reducing he coss associaed wih urnover and

improving morale and produciviy. Because many (hough cerainly no all) employ-

ers already oer some orm o paid leavebe i paid parenal leave, paid sick days, or

vacaion imea ederal wage replacemen program would help hem lower heir coss.

Approximaely 60 percen o employers in Caliornia repored coordinaing he benes

hey oered wih hose coming rom he sae paid leave und.66 Tis allows employers


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o oer he same level o bene, a a much lower cos. Abou 93 percen o employers

also repored eiher no change or less urnover as a resul o he paid leave program in

Caliornia, adding addiional cos savings o businesses here.67

Conclusion

American amilies are dieren oday, and here is no evidence o sugges ha we

will reurn o he male-breadwinner/emale-say-a-home-caregiver model. I is high

ime ha workplace policies sar o reec he way our amilies live oday, raher han

remaining rooed in oudaed noions o wha a amily is supposed o look like.

Implemening a paid amily and medical leave program such as Social Securiy Cares

would be a good rs sep in bringing he Unied Saes up o par relaive o oher

naions labor sandards, and i would help aciliae he dual roles o worker and care-

giver ha mos aduls will experience a some poin in heir lives.

Bu Social Securiy Cares would no help jus individual workers and heir amilies. I

would also bene sociey a large. Families immediae and long-erm economic sabil-

iy, as well as heir abiliy o provide care o aging baby-boomers, would improve sharply

i workers access o paid amily and medical leave were increased. Tis would promoe

gender equiy and help close he wage gap, which would promoe in urn greaer labor

orce paricipaion o women. Wih coss his low and benes his high, implemening

a naional paid amily and medical leave program is no only abou being nice o work-

ersi also makes economic sense.

Heather Boushey is a Senior Economist at the Center for American Progress. Sarah JaneGlynn is a Policy Analyst with the Economics team at the Center.


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Endnotes

1 Heather Boushey, The New Breadwinners. In HeatherBoushey and Ann OLeary, ed., The Shriver Report: A WomansNation Changes Everything: p. 30-67 (Washington: Center orAmerican Progress, 2009).

2 Bureau o Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation -September 2012, News release, October 5, 2012, availableat http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pd/empsit.pd.

3 Sarah Jane Glynn and Sarah Ayres, The New Breadwinners:2010 Update (Washington: Center or American Progress,orthcoming).

4 Bureau o Labor Statistics, Table 4. Families with OwnChildren: Employment Status o Parents by Age o YoungestChild and Family Type, 2010-2011 Annual Averages (Wash-ington: U.S. Department o Labor, 2012), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/amee.t04.htm.

5 Ibid.; Ann OLeary and Karen Kornbluh, Family Friendly orAll Families. In Heather Boushey and Ann OLeary, ed., TheShriver Report: A Womans Nation Changes Everything, p. 75-109. (Washington, DC: Center or American Progress, 2009).

6 Organisation or Economic Co-operation and Development,Gender Brie, (2010), available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/31/44720649.pd.

7 Heather Boushey, Helping Breadwinners When It CantWait: A Progressive Program or Family Leave Insurance(Washington: Center or American Progress, 2009); ChristianE. Weller, Building It Up, Not Tearing It Down: A ProgressiveApproach to Strengthening Social Security (Washington:Center or American Progress, 2010).

8 Brad Harrington, Fred Van Deusen, and Beth Humberd, TheNew Dad: Caring, Committed and Conicted (Boston, MA:Boston College Center or Work & Family, 2011).

9 AARP, Social Security 75th Anniversary Survey Report:Public Opinion Trends (2010).

10 Ibid.

11 Heather Boushey and Sarah Jane Glynn, ComprehensivePaid Family and Medical Leave or Todays Families andWorkplaces: Crating a Paid Leave System That Builds onthe Experience o Existing Federal and State Programs

(Washington: Center or American Progress, 2012).

12 See: Social Security Administration, A History o the SocialSecurity Disability Programs (1986), available at http://www.ssa.gov/history/1986dibhistory.html.

13 Historical Background and Development o Social Security,available at: http://www.ssa.gov/history/briehistory3.html(last accessed March 15, 2011).

14 Ann OLeary, Social Security Cares: Why America Is Readyor Paid Family and Medical Leave (Washington: Center orAmerican Progress, 2012).

15 Marth Derthick, Policymaking or Social Security(Washing-ton: Brookings Institution Press, 1979).

16 Boushey, Helping Breadwinners When It Cant Wait; Weller,Building It up, Not Tearing It Down.

17 This assumes a worker earning the median hourly wage

o $16.57, working 40 hours per week, with a .02 percentincrease in payroll taxes. May 2011 National OccupationalEmployment and Wage Estimates: United States, availableat: http://ww w.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000.

18 Family and Medical Leave Act, H.R. 1, 103rd Congress, avail-able at http://www.dol.gov/whd/mla/index.htm.

19 Jane Waldogel, The Impact o the Family and MedicalLeave Act,Journal o Policy Analysis and Management18 (2)(1999): 281303.

20 Heather Boushey and John Schmitt, Job Tenure and FirmSize Provisions Exclude Many Young Parents rom Familyand Medical Leave (Washington: Center or Economic andPolicy Research, 2007).

21 Jacob Siegel, Aging into the 21st Century (Administrationon Aging, 1996).

22 Kenneth G. Manton and XiLiang Gu, Changes in thePrevalence o Chronic Disability in the United States Blac kand Nonblack Population above Age 65 rom 1982 to 1999,Proceedings o the National Academy o Sciences 98 (11)(2001): 63546359.

23 Kenneth G. Manton and XiLiang Gu, Changes in thePrevalence o Chronic Disability in the United States Blac kand Nonblack Population above Age 65 rom 1982 to 1999.Proceedings o the National Academy o Sciences 98 (11)(2001): 6354-6359.

24 Judith Feder, Harriet L. Komisar, and Marlene Nieeld, Long-Term Care in the United States: An Overview, Health Afairs19 (3) (2000): 4056; Kathleen M. McGarry, Caring or theElderly: The Role o Adult Children. In David A. Wise, ed.,Inquiries in the Economics o Aging (Chicago, IL: University oChicago, 1998), p. 133166.

25 Richard W. Johnson and Joshua M. Wiener, A Prole o Frail

Older Americans and Their Caregivers (Washington: UrbanInstitute, 2006).

26 Susan Ettner, The Impact o Parent Care on Female LaborSupply Deci sions, Demography32 (1) (1995): 6380.

27 Richard W. Johnson and Anthony T. Lo Sasso, The Trade-Ofbetween House o Paid Employment and Time Assitanceto Elderly Parents at Midli e (Washington: Urban Institute,2000).

28 Susan L. Ettner, The Opportunity Costs o Elder Care,Journal o Human Resources 31 (1) (1995): 189205.

29 Health Resources and Services Administration and Maternaland Child Health Bureau, National Survey o Children withSpecial Health Care Needs (U.S. Department o Health andHuman Services, 2010).

30 Ibid.

31 Ibid.

32 Paid Family Leave Benets, available at http://www.edd.ca.gov/Disability/PFL_Benet_Amounts.htm (last accessedMay 2011); State o New Jersey Department o Labor andWorkorce Development, Family Leave Insurance Benets -General Inormation, available at http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/i/content/program_ino_menu.html (last accessedFebruary 2011).

33 Family Leave Insurance, available at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/deault.aspx?cite=49.86&ull=true.

34 Authors analysis o the Bureau o Labor Statistics AmericanTime Use Survey, 2011.

35 Ibid.

36 Bureau o the Census, Maternity Leave and EmploymentPatterns o First-Time Mothers: 19612008 (Department o

Commerce, 2011).

37 Authors analysis o the Bureau o Labor Statistics AmericanTime Use Survey, 2011.

38 Joint Economic Committee, Paid Family Leave at Fortune100 Companies: A Basic Standard but Still Not the GoldStandard (2008).

39 Authors analysis o the Bureau o Labor Statisticss Ameri-can Time Use Survey, 2011.


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40 These issues are laid out more ully in: Boushey and Glynn,Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave or TodaysFamilies and Workplaces: Crating a Paid Leave SystemThat Builds on the Experience o Existing Federal and StatePrograms.

41 Bureau o the Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Pat-terns o First-Time Mothers: 19612008.

42 Heather Boushey and Sarah Jane Glynn, The Efects o PaidFamily and Medical Leave on Employment Stability and Eco -nomic Security (Washington: Center or Americ an Progress,2012).

43 Ibid.

44 Catalyst, Women Leaving and Reentering the Workorce(2011), available at http://www.catalyst.org/le/507/qt_women_leaving_reentering_workorce.pd.

45 Ann OLeary, Whats the Workplace Impact? In AngelaTimashenka Geiger and others, eds. The Shriver Report: AWomans Nation Takes on Alzheimers (Washington: Simon &Schuster ebooks, 2010).

46 Ettner, The Impact o Parent Care on Female Labor SupplyDecisions; Ettner, The Opportunity Costs o Elder Care.

47 Shelly J. Correll and others, Getting a Job: Is there a Mother-hood Penalty?,American Journal o Sociology112 (5) (2007).

48 Australian Government Productivity Commission, PaidParental Leave: Support or Parents with Newborn Children

(2009).

49 Wen-Jui Han and others, Public Policies and WomensEmployment ater Childbearing. Working Paper 14660(National Bureau o Economic Research, 2009).

50 Bureau o the Census, Maternity Leave and Employment Pat-terns o First-Time Mothers: 19612008.

51 Heather Boushey, Family Friendly Policies: Helping MothersMake Ends Meet, Review o Social Economy66 (1) (2008):5170.

52 Vicky Lovell, No Time to Be Sick: Who Sufers When WorkersDont Have Sick Leave (Washington: Institute or WomensPolicy Research, 2004).

53 Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, The Two-IncomeTrap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke(New York: Basic Books, 2003).

54 Brad Harrington, Fred Van Deusen, and Beth Humberd, TheNew Dad: Caring, Committed and Conicted (Boston, MA:Boston College Center or Work & Family, 2011).

55 Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and JessicaSmith, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage inthe United States: 2010 (Washington: U.S. Census Bureau,2011).

56 Ibid.

57 Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, The Gender PayGap: Have Women Gone as Far as They Can?Academy oManagement Perspectives 21 (1) (2007): 7-23.

58 Jessica Arons, Lietime Losses: The Career Wage Gap(Washington: Center or American Progress, 2008).

59 Michelle J. Budig and Paula England, The Wage Penaltyor Motherhood,American Sociological Review66 (2001):204225.

60 Jane Waldogel, Family and Medical Leave: Evidence romthe 2000 Surveys, Monthly Labor Review124 (9) (2001):1723.

61 Eileen Appelbaum and Ruth Milkman, Leaves That Pay:Employer and Worker Experiences with Paid Family Leavein Caliornia (Washington: Center or Economic and PolicyResearch, 2011).

62 While this survey is now 12 years old, it is the most recentdata available. The Department o Labor is c urrently work-ing on an update to this data. David Cantor and others,Balancing the Needs o Families and Employers: Family andMedical Leave Surveys, 2000 Update (Rockville, MD: Westat,2001).

63 See, or example: Matt Richtel, Housecleaning, ThenDinner? Silicon Valley Perks Come Home,The New YorkTimes, October, 19, 2012, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/20/us/in-silicon-valley-perks-now-begin-at-home.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

64 Heather Boushey and Sarah Jane Glynn, There Are Signi-cant Business Costs to Replacing Employees (Washington:Center or American Progress, orthcoming).

65 Appelbaum and Milkman, Leaves That Pay: Employer andWorker Experiences with Paid Family Leave in Caliornia.

66 Ibid.

67 Ibid.

The Many Benefits of Paid Family and Medical Leave

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