We want a nationwide paid family and medical go away program. This is what Congress can do

For years, workers across the country have advocated the creation of a nationwide comprehensive paid family and sick leave program. In Connecticut, a broad coalition of advocates worked with lawmakers to pass a strong paid vacation program in the 2019 legislature. Believers came out loud in this campaign because we recognized the moral need to establish this insurance program: that people should not have to choose between taking a paycheck and taking care of their health or the health of a loved one or bond with their new child.

Our faith teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Establishing and implementing a comprehensive, inclusive, paid family and sick leave program is one way to show that love. When someone suffers, they deserve to focus on the care and treatment they need to get better. When we think about loving our neighbor “like ourselves”, we have to ask ourselves the question: What would I wish for if I were sick, if I were to greet a new baby or to take care of my sick family member? What I want for myself, I want for you too.

We believe that everyone is made in the image of God and has inherent worth and dignity. Everyone deserves to be healthy and to take care of their health when they are not. As a society, we should aim to break down the barriers to treatment and support, rather than perpetuating policies that stifle well-being. Establishing a strong, inclusive family and sick leave program is a critical part of promoting the health and well-being of workers and their communities across the country.

The pandemic has underscored the depth of human connectivity, especially how our health is often influenced by that of our neighbors and colleagues. A solid paid family and sick leave program benefits all of us, whether we ever need to or not. As believers, that is exactly what we mean when we talk about promoting the common good. Our solidarity gives rise to a responsibility for one another and a common interest in healthy results. When people are able to take care of their health without fear of losing their paycheck or job, our community is healthier.

Retaining employees to the workforce through supportive measures such as paid vacation also has significant economic benefits. Research has shown that access to paid vacation helps new mothers stay connected to their employer. The widespread closure of daycare centers and face-to-face schools during the pandemic was one of the main reasons why so many women have left their jobs or have reduced their workforce. The overwhelming and unsustainable reality of trying to maintain employment while looking after a child or children at home has highlighted the need for various policy changes to better support working parents.

The exodus of over 2 million women from work during the pandemic also demonstrated the devastating impact disengagement from paid work can have on families and the wider economy. According to an estimate in a joint 2020 report by the Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress, “even a small shift of just 1 percent of mothers leaving work would cost an estimated $ 8.7 billion in economic damage. Dollars for working families. “

And since working families don’t live in an economic bubble, an impact on parents’ wallets also affects what those parents can spend on the local economy and how they can support their families. We know that when women retire from work, it becomes more difficult for them to return to paid employment in the future, sometimes with lasting effects on their earning potential. Paid leave can play a key role in promoting consistent labor force participation, especially for women.

Paid leave is particularly important for low-wage earners, who are less likely to be able to take unpaid leave if they are sick or have a new child in their family. A worker with a minimum wage job is no less worthy of having access to protected, paid leave to care for his sick elderly parent than a higher earner. This benefit should be available to all who need it and should include high wage compensation that enables workers, especially low-wage workers, to take the vacation they need. Families and communities will benefit from national policymakers adopting paid vacation programs that are inclusive and accessible to low-paid workers.

Paid leave is not only a question of economic justice, but also a question of racial justice. Colored women, who make up a large portion of frontline workers, are twice as likely to leave the workforce as white women during times of the pandemic, according to the Marshall Plan for Moms campaign. Persistent gender and racial wage inequalities add to financial stress and complex decisions about managing care and employment for many women, with decisions made by women of color being further influenced by the racial wealth gap.

These worsening injustices make it difficult to take unpaid vacation, if it is offered at all. With 79% of black mothers across the country serving as breadwinners for their families in the pre-pandemic era, it is critical that we implement supportive measures that enable them to better care for their families’ health needs while also providing paid employment maintain.

We cannot afford to wait any longer for a comprehensive, nationally paid family and sick leave program. Previous efforts in Congress to create such a program have not been successful. Now, more than a year after a global public health crisis and with a supportive president at the helm, a federally paid family and sick leave program could become a reality.

Congress should support the Biden government’s inclusion of a paid family and sick leave program (modeled on the FAMILY Act) in the American Families Plan or as a separate bill to provide this vital insurance for all workers. Now is the time for believers to speak up: Congressmen need to learn from their constituents what difference the paid vacation would make in their lives in order to force them to act right now. Let us not be afraid to proclaim the moral imperative to adopt policies that affirm and protect the well-being and humanity of working families and all of our workforce.

[Rachel Lea Scott is the associate director of the Collaborative Center for Justice, a Connecticut social justice organization sponsored by six congregations of women religious.]