Economics Professor Argues for Paid Parental Leave at State House
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Economics Professor Argues for Paid Parental Leave at State House |
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By Anne-Marie Kent
University of Massachusetts Boston Economics Professor Randy Albelda appeared before a State House Task Force Hearing on June 26 to support legislation extending the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system. The proposed legislation would provide paid leave taken for the birth or adoption of a child. In her remarks to the Task Force and the media, Albelda cited her Labor Resource Center (LRC) Study, Filling the Work and Family Gap (June 2000), co-written with Tiffany Manuel of the Center for Women in Politics.
According to the report, more than 120 countries around the world provide paid maternity leave, and several states are now considering legislation to provide or extend paid family leave. While job-protected leave of up to 12 weeks is allowed under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, millions of workers are excluded from coverage or cannot afford unpaid leave.
Albelda and Manuel assert that the current lack of paid parental leave incurs costs, some of which employers are already bearing, through the UI system, for individuals who lose their jobs because of care responsibilities and are then eligible for UI. In fact, according to their study, one out of every four persons who took unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child turned to public assistance to cover lost wages.
They note that paid parental leave, made universal through a system of social insurance, would spread the cost of family care equitably. She noted that an expansion of the existing UI system would cost $32.7 million annually, an average per-employee cost of $10.81.
The proposal passed both houses of the Legislature only to be struck down August 10th by Governor Paul Cellucci, who proposed an amended version offering a tax credit to employers as an incentive to provide paid leave rather than tap the UI system.
Development and Research Associate for the Labor Resource Center in CPCS Debra Osnowitz commented that while this summerŐs proposal was not successful, change takes time. She said that the Labor Resource Center would continue "to support research that estimates both the costs and benefits of paid family and medical leave." She added, "This study represents the Labor Resource CenterŐs mission to conduct research that informs innovative public policy."