Did you see where Trump announced a plan for paid family leave? Smart move Mr. Trump. Love him or hate him you’ve got to give him credit, this was a smart political move to draw the female vote, especially given that his opponent might have a leg up on the female voter pool.
The day after this announcement, I got this information from a friend (who is in fact pregnant):
The gist is this:
“The United States is at a crossroads in its policies towards the family and gender equality. Currently America provides basic support for children, fathers, and mothers in the form of unpaid parental leave, child-related tax breaks, and limited public childcare. Alternatively, the United States’ OECD peers empower families through paid parental leave and comprehensive investments in infants and children. The potential gains from strengthening these policies are enormous. Paid parental leave and subsidized childcare help get and keep more women in the workforce, contribute to economic growth, offer cognitive and health benefits to children, and extend choice for parents in finding their preferred work-life strategy. Indeed, the United States has been falling behind the rest of the OECD in many social and economic indicators by not adequately investing in children, fathers and mothers.”
I want to nod my head, but then the libertarian in me kicks in, fighting my inner mom and focus on forward thinking practices in the workplace. Do I think it is a good idea to provide paid parental leave? I most certainly do. But is it the government’s job to mandate that employers provide it? That’s where I start to get squeamish about it.
Many of the most forward thinking companies in the nation already offer paid parental leave, or some version of it. And here’s why as you see from this article back from 2015 on why Amazon was just another that announced they would expand their leave policies:
Earlier this week, Amazon announced that it would expand its leave policy for new moms and extend the policy to dads for the first time. It’s just the latest tech company to do so, as Silicon Valley realizes the best way to attract top talent is to offer flexible work schedules and ever-flashier perks. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 75% of the workforce will be made up of millennials in just a decade, and employers are kowtowing to their work-life preferences; a recent survey by Ernst & Young found that “millennials around the world are more likely than other generations to cite paid parental leave as an important benefit.”
Employers do it because it is in their best interest to do so. If they want to attract the best talent and retain them, and then seek to create an environment where they can be as productive as they possibly can, they realize the need to provide flexibility during a time in life when it is needed. Short of people deciding they aren’t going to have babies anymore (and that ain’t going to happen), if you want to recruit and retain the best, it’s in your own self-interest to offer flexibility. The industries and jobs that don’t require a leg-up in talent are becoming fewer and farther between in the U.S. and across the globe.
So what if the government could find a way not to mandate something, but be a catalyst for showing employers that it is in their best self-interest to offer this and other quality of life benefits? Love to hear from you on how this might be done.
