An opportunity to promote health equity: National paid family and medical leave

The United States is the only developed nation that fails to guarantee any kind of paid leave to workers. We lack a national paid family and medical leave (PFML) policy that encompasses: (1) paid parental leave, which would apply to both mothers and fathers after the birth of a child, adoption of a child, or fostering a child; (2) paid family leave (PFL), which would apply to caregivers of a hospitalized child, a medically complex child, or a family member such as a declining parent; and (3) paid medical or sick leave, which would allow one to manage personal or family illness. Although the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides 12 weeks of unpaid job protection for certain workers to care for family members or tend to their own health, this arrangement fails 40% of the US workforce, including independent contractors, new employees, and workers in small businesses who are carved out of the law. For those employees who are eligible, many cannot take time without pay; in 2012, among workers who needed but did not take FMLA leave, 46% reported that they could not afford to take unpaid leave. (author introduction)  #P4HEwebinarMay2023