Just 12 percent of American private-sector workers have paid parental leave. That’s an outrage. Many more workers have unpaid leave, but too many of them can’t afford to take it, facing the choice between caring for a new baby or sick family member and paying the rent or the electric bill. Also an outrage. Nearly one in four women who takes leave is back at work within two weeks. That’s brutal.
The United States is the only developed nation without paid maternity leave, so it’s not like this is an impossible unicorn policy that could never work. It’s a popular idea here, according to polls. Three states—with a fourth on the way—even have paid family leave programs, and they’re working just fine for the workers who know about and use them, and for employers. We should be able to do this—but of course, Republicans are so committed to blocking it that it’s treated as crazy talk.
I, however, do work for an employer (Daily Kos) that offers paid parental leave (and that’s important—fathers should get leave, too), and as of April 5, I’m in a position to need that. So, as I write this, I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone for—I may see if it works to come back part time for an extended time—but now you have the explanation for my longer-than-a-vacation absence from the site. (It’s named Daniel Ravi Jaikumar, and has a big assist from paid family leave.)