Idea of the Day: America Should Have Paid Family and Medical Leave

November 2, 2012

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American workers and their families no longer look the way they did in the 1960s. Women’s participation in the labor force has been steadily growing over time, and women now make up about half of all workers. More working women is partially the result of personal choices and partially the result of economics. Consider that among families with children, only those with both parents working have seen real income growth in the past 30 years.

Yet in spite of the fact that our lives have changed so dramatically, the United States remains the only advanced economy that does not guarantee workers the right to paid time off when they need to provide care to their families.

For more on this topic, please see:

• The Many Benefits of Paid Family and Medical Leave by Heather Boushey and Sarah Jane Glynn