Posted on 07/11/2018 3:45:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
When it comes to supporting families, paid parental leave is a solution to a number of problems. Studies show that paid leave can reduce infant mortality, increase breastfeeding rates, can improve maternal mental health and strengthen the connection between fathers and babies.
There are a ton of benefits to parental leave, ones that American families should be seeing, but aren't. While some employers have been modernizing parental leave policies, federal policy lags behind. The last major policy change came in 1993, when the Family and Medical Leave Act passed with bipartisan support, guarantees more than half of American workers 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave.
The passing of that act has been called a case study in uniting Democrats and Republicans, and now Ivanka Trump is calling for that kind of unified support once again.
In an op-ed published by Fox News Wednesday, the advisor to and daughter of President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to "reach across the aisle, and create smart and lasting policy that does right by all."
"Paid family leave enables parents to balance the competing demands of work and family, pursue their careers, and build strong and thriving families. It is an investment in the future of our workers, our families, and our country," she writes, noting that paid family leave is endorsed by some social conservatives as a way to encourage "tightly bonded families and protect infants and parents at their most vulnerable."
Trump notes that Americans are having fewer babies, and suggests paid parental leave could change that. "If executed responsibly, paid family leave is targeted government action with the right incentives – designed to increase the independence, health and dignity of our citizens."
Trump's letter comes the same day as a U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy hearing on paid family leave policy.
The subject is a legislative proposal championed by senators Marco Rubio that builds on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It would see businesses given a tax credit for offering workers partially paid parental leave, as well as leave for family health issues, and is in line with polls that suggest that while most Americans support paid leave, the majority also want employers, not the government, to shoulder the cost.
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
Critics of Trump's op-ed note that democrats have been working on parental leave for years. On Twitter Wednesday, Chris Lu, former White House cabinet secretary and assistant to the president during the Obama administration, responded to Ivanka Trump's promotion of the op-ed by pointing out the existence of a Democrat plan, The Family Act. which would be funded by employers and employees.
Trump replied that while true, the efforts have failed to gather bipartisan support, which is what her letter is officially championing.
You’re a pretty gal Ivanka — but get your hands out of my pockets!
Ivanka - is she a closet Socialist??? Sure sound like it....
Very Ted Kennedy. “Let’s simply require ...” private businesses to do what we think they should, regardless of the consequences.
You guys are thinking about this all wrong. You have to think political. This will make the democrats come out against paid family leave since it was suggested by a Trump. Everything is politics. If trump came out in support of cute puppies, Democrats would call for the immediate execution of all cute puppies. It is a knee jerk reaction that we can use against them. How else do you explain that Democrats want to abolish ICE? It’s insane. So, use it. Wait to see how long it takes for the Democrats to come out against this. 2 days max.
It actually unintentionally works out. GOP-E has no interest in such a law, and if anyone named Trump is for it, the Dems are against it ... one fewer issue for them to demagogue.
Will somebody please banish that out-of-touch, liberal Manhattan Democrat from the White House!?!
You win, in time, and in fleshing it out.
Yeah, that would be nice. And employers should feel free to include that as a benefit of working for them.
I disagree. They'll just call Ivanka rude names, and they might say she's a hypocrite for advocating for something she doesn't personally need ... and perhaps doesn't provide for her own employees.
However, they will not come out against a potential huge new entitlement that they've favored for many years.
I cannot stand this woman
Major negative factor in the administration
Go home Ivanka
Take about 10 years of maternity leave
They might try to make a distinction between the I Trump plan and a Dem version, but that forces them out of the realm of bumper sticker slogans.
Giving your workers a few days of paid time off is the right thing to do, especially since mieskeits MNUCHIN and COHEN have orchestrated cutting the corporate tax rate in half.
People that work hard for businesses over say 25 employees should get at least a week.
Nobody works harder than Americans.
Nothing socialist about this.
Not a chance Democrats do that. Rather, more likely Ivanka trying to remain invited to the posh parties on the Hamptons and at Georgetown.
Pics, damnit, pics!
‘A case study in uniting Democrats and Republicans’
Oh, really? Who said that? Some Socialists? You plan your family and your lives on the finances you have. Many of us sacrificed, without creating a burden for our employers. Family paid leave is a far Left thing that will bankrupt small businesses......this WILL NOT unite the two Partys in this country. Ivanka, you are barking up the wrong tree here!
I think Democrats in Congress would vote for it if it came to that, but Republican leadership won’t let it. That gives the Dems a clear field to snipe at Ivanka, while kind of ignoring the idea until a Democrat Congress can bring it up.
Why do people get extra benefits for their life choices that are not available to others?
“””””””The last major policy change came in 1993, when the Family and Medical Leave Act passed with bipartisan support, guarantees more than half of American workers 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave”””””””
My wife has used the FMLA plenty this past year because our son spent months in the hospital. My sons fiance cannot use it because they are not married. That surprised me. I can see first hand why the act is a good thing but I am not in favor of it being paid leave unless the company does it voluntarily.
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