Family Leave Insurance – Really?

President Obama has slipped a little gem into his proposed budget – family leave insurance.

Having a baby is a leading cause ofÂ poverty traps in the USA, the extra cost combined with time off can cause a down spiral that can put families over the poverty line. What Obama proposes is a fund that would help states launch family leave insurance programs by covering start up costs, and it’s a big deal for the economic security of America’s families.

Paid family leave helps stop family poverty before it starts by offering a bridge of economic security when parents must take time off after a new child arrives. With family leave insurance in place, new parents receive pay via the insurance fund when they take the essential time to adjust to a new child and recover from childbirth.

Paid family leave can also help lower wage gaps between women and men. The wage gaps mothers face are huge, and they significantly contribute to family poverty: Women without kids make about 90 cents to a man’s dollar, mothers make less at 73 cents to a man’s dollar, and single moms make only about 60 cents per a man’s dollar. That wage gap literally takes money that families deserve right off the table. Studies show that having family-friendly policies in place, like paid family leave, actually lowers the wage gaps between men and women.

Sounds pretty good huh?

I’m not a US citizen, have no plans to be (not sure they’d have me) but if I called crisps ‘chips’ I’d be contacting my congressperson via every form of communication the modern world can avail. Put the pressure on America, before the Right torpedoes it just because they can.

Link To Congressional Directory

NB – chips are fat fries

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