Family Values Work: Expanding Family and Medical Leave

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Family Values _at_ WorkExpanding Family and
Medical Leave

• Family Values _at_ Work
• A Multi-State Consortium
• valuefamiliesatwork.org

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The Problem Much Talk About

• Family
• Values

• Personal
• Responsibility

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Yet - Being a Good Family Member Can Cost You

• your job
• or career opportunity
• or health or well-being
• or security
• or peace of mind.

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Being a Dutiful Employee Can

• jeopardize a loved one
• add to health or learning problems of children
• make recovery more difficult for seriously ill or
  aging
• add to stress of caregivers.

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Clarifying the Problem

• Families have changed workplace hasnt kept
  pace.
• Some employers do a great job.
• But many policies are outdated, based on
  assumption that workers are men with wives at
  home.
• Family values too often end at the workplace
  door.
• Workplace policies are detached from child and
  family outcomes.

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What Everyone Needs

• Occasional extended time for
• a new child,
• a serious illness,
• a seriously ill family member.
• Policy Family and Medical Leave Insurance

• Time each year for
• routine illness (e.g., cold, flu,)
• school or medical appointments,
• the care of an ill family member.
• Policy paid sick days, small necessities bills

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Facts Pregnant Women in the U.S.

• More than 60 take less than 12 weeks.
• More than half receive no pay during leave.

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Background 1940-1960s

• Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) funds
  introduced in 5 states Rhode Island, New
  Jersey, New York, California, Hawaii.
• Pregnancy was not included.
• NJ lumped with injuries that were willfully
  self-inflicted or incurred during the
  perpetration of a high misdemeanor.

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Background 1976

• Supreme Court says pregnancy has nothing to do
  with sex not covered by Title VII.

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Background 1978

• Congress passed Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• Cant fire women for being pregnant but you
  dont have to hold their jobs.
• Pregnancy like other temporary disabilities but
  most women work for firms with no short-term
  disability plans.
• Mothers arent the only parent.
• Newborns arent the only ones needing care.

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TDI States Added Pregnancy

• After the PDA, every TDI state added pregnancy
  and childbirth-related disability.
• All working women in these 5 states now receive
  paid maternity leave of 2-4 weeks pre-birth, 6-8
  weeks post-birth, as recommended by the woman's
  doctor.
• Still a problem for workers in non-TDI states.

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Background 1993

• Congress passed FMLA
• 12 weeks leave to care for for new child,
  seriously ill child, spouse or elderly parent, or
  personal illness.
• Includes job guarantee and health insurance.
• Broader than maternity and includes men.

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Problems with FMLA
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Guess Which Countries Lack Paid Maternity Leave?

• Bangladesh
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Cameroon
• Canada
• India
• Iran
• Mexico

• Mongolia
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Swaziland
• Sweden
• U.S.
• Zambia

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How the US Stacks Up on Paid Maternity Leave

• 100 Pay
• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Cameroon
• India
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Sweden
• Zambia

• Partial Pay
• Canada 50 weeks, 55
• Botswana 12 weeks 25
• Iran, 16 weeks, 66
• Mongolia 17 weeks, 70
• No Pay
• Swaziland
• U.S.

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Impact on Parents and Kids

• Work cant pay if it doesnt last and it cant
  last if it jeopardizes kids.
• Leading causes of job turnover include the birth
  of a child and caring for a child with special
  needs Waldfogel
• High cost of starting over.

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Impact on Children on Lack of Affordable Leave

• Lack of bonding time for infants during critical
  development.
• Higher infant mortality.
• Mothers less able to breast feed, leading to
  higher rates of illness and long term obesity.
• Less time for well baby visits and immunizations.

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Impact of Lack of Affordable Family, Medical Leave

• Without paid leave, serious illness lasts longer.
• Illness is less well managed.
• Harm to school performance.
• Harm to family's financial status.

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Affordable Leave is Good for Elders

• Nearly two-thirds of workers will have
  responsibility for family care.
• Paid leave allows elders to be independent
  longer, recover more quickly, stay out of nursing
  homes.
• Reduces stress on sandwich generation.
• Paid time improves lives of paid caregivers,
  reduces turnover, lifts quality of care.

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Affordable Leave Is Good for Health

• Family leave insurance will lower health care
  costs for everyone
• businesses
• families
• government

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Solutions Public Policies

• Ensure affordable leave for men women.
• Allow use for school and medical appointments.
• Allow use for dealing with aftermath of domestic
  violence, assault, stalking.
• Expand definition family same-sex, sibs,
  grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws.
• Expand UI eligibility for loss of job due to
  family care.

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We Need Family Medical Leave Insurance (FLI)

• Modest contributions by employees create an
  insurance pool.
• Workers can draw on that pool when they need
  leave for a new child, a serious personal illness
  or the care of a seriously ill family member.

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FLI is Good for Business

• Cost of replacement 150 for salaried, 5500
  even for 8/hr workers.
• Low-income mothers with paid leave have higher
  earnings and more likely to be employed. Heather
  Boushey
• Not a favor to women a better way to do
  business cuts turnover, presenteeism, improves
  quality and productivity.

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Family Values _at_ Work A Multi-State Consortium

• Eight state coalitions California, Georgia,
  Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey,
  Washington and Wisconsin raise funds together.
• Shared funding allowed qualitative leap in
  collaboration, effectiveness, communications
  strategy.
• Consortium also includes Colorado, Illinois and
  Pennsylvania. Were in touch with other states
  and with national allies such as National
  Partnership for Women and Families.

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Making Progress in the States

• Winning forms of paid leave
• expanding TDI to include family leave
• California won!
• New Jersey won!
• New York will win soon
• creating new form of social insurance
• Washington won!
• Other states exploring

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Making Progress in the States

• Making progress on guaranteeing protection
• Expanding FMLA to domestic partners
• California won, Maine won!
• FMLA for school activities
• Georgia
• Wisconsin

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Making Progress in the States

• Expanding UI for part-timers, family hardship
• Maine
• Georgia
• Wisconsin
• Exposing efforts to gut FMLA
• Rapid Response Team

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Building Support for Federal Policy Change

• Funds to the states to set up family leave
  insurance funds.
• Paid leave for federal employees.
• Efforts to expand access to and uses for FMLA.
• Government as model employer.

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Increased Collaboration

• Connecting the dots
• Labor . Women . Seniors .
  Progressive employers . Family physicians .
  Faith-based . Disabilities groups .
  Chronic disease . Alzheimers Associations .
  AIDS groups . Mental health organizations
  . PTAs . Principals . School boards
  . Social workers . Cities/counties groups
  . Racial justice groups . Welfare
  rights/anti-poverty groups . Childrens
  groups . Foster children . Work-family
  researchers . Legal groups . Parents of
  adult disabled . Adoption groups .
  Immigrant advocates . Citizen Action .
  Human Rights groups . Non-profit associations
  . Insurers . Womens business
  associations . AAUW . YWCA . Planned
  Parenthood . School nurses . Public health
  experts .
• .

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Reframing the Debate

• New framing
• Family values means valuing families.
• Modernizing outdated systems and rules.
• Time to care.
• Dont make us jeopardize jobs or family.
• Building an economy that works for all families.

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Opportunities

• . Increase effectiveness of collaboration among
  states
• Identify and share research.
• Share materials.
• Share strategies
• Common templates.
• Common campaigns.
• Joint media campaign
• Collaboration of state legislators.
• Rapid Response team.

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Opportunities

• Policy advocacy at city, state, national level.
• Research.
• Public opinion research, communications
  strategies.
• Facilitate participation of partner groups in
  state and national coalitions.
• For more information, contact
• valuefamilesatwork.org
• nationalpartnership.org