President Joe Biden’s American family plan contains a long list of potential investments to revitalize the country, but one proposal in particular is long overdue: paid family vacation.
Without federal paid vacation, the U.S. is in an anachronism compared to dozens of other developed countries. It thus falls further behind its economic competitors in terms of the number of employed women. The situation has worsened with the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought more women on the workforce to its lowest level in more than three decades. It is time the country recognized that paid family vacation is necessary to stay competitive.
Biden’s plan would allocate $ 225 billion towards the introduction of paid family vacation and medical leave over a decade. It would give workers up to $ 4,000 a month for taking family or medical vacations. A range of weekly wages would be replaced and increased to 80% of the wages for the lowest-income workers. Within 10 years, the plan would guarantee 12 weeks of paid parental, family and personal sick leave.
According to the current federal law on family and sick leave, employees can qualify for 12 weeks of leave for the birth of a child, the care of a sick family member or for other medical reasons. Although the worker’s job is protected, it is unpaid and many simply cannot afford to forego 12 weeks of wages.
The Biden government estimates that almost one in four young mothers returns to work within two weeks of giving birth, and one in five retirees leaves work earlier than planned to care for a sick family member. Although some companies have seen the benefit of offering paid vacations as a means of retaining valuable employees, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 95% of low-income earners still lack access to paid family vacations.
Paid family leave helps workers and employers alike. New parents have the opportunity to be at home with their child in the earliest days, and studies from the few states that have paid family vacation show that mothers in particular are more likely to return to work after vacation. People with a sick family member can provide essential and necessary care without having to worry about their financial situation. Companies benefit from higher employee loyalty and lower fluctuation costs.
The plan proposed by Biden provides a starting point for the gradual introduction of a national policy on the necessary paid family leave. It is something that is needed if the US is to maintain a resilient, competitive workforce.
Comments are closed.