Washington Work and Family Coalition

Sweden Is About To Give New Fathers A Third Month Of Paid Paternity Leave

Photo: Rasmus Andersson/Flickr Creative Commons

Sweden is a great place to be a dad, and the country is about to make things even better for soon-to-be fathers.

Beginning in 2016, men in the country will be entitled to a third (yes, third) month of paid paternal leave based on a new government proposal. The new plan builds on one of the world’s most generous parental leave policies, with nearly 90 percent of Swedish fathers using the benefit.

Swedish parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave when a child is born or adopted; 390 of those are paid at 80 percent of normal pay and, as of now, 60 of those are reserved exclusively for fathers. The days can be taken up until a child turns 8, and each new child garners new days of paid leave, so parents are able to accumulate days from several children.

If the days reserved for paternal leave aren’t used, they’re lost, encouraging both parents to stay home when a child is born. But parents are also legally entitled to cut their working hours by up to 25 percent until a child’s eighth birthday.

Sadly, fathers and mothers in the United States aren’t offered a package even remotely as generous.

Unless a company explicitly offers the benefit — or a person lives in California, Rhode Island or New Jersey — the United States doesn’t have paid parental leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles full-time workers at companies with 50 or more employees to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, Bloomberg notes. But only half of workers in America are covered by the policy; freelancers, part-time employees, those at small businesses and others aren’t provided with even that limited allotment.

Full Story: Huffington Post »

Why Does Becoming a Mom Mean Potentially Losing Your Job?

Washington State’s Failure to Mandate Paid Parental Leave Hurts Gender Equity, Parents, and Kids

Photo: Frank de Kleine/Flickr Creative Commons

My best friend from graduate school and I will both become first-time mothers this year. As a citizen of Ireland, my friend will be able to stay home with her baby for almost a year and then return to her present career path. As an American state employee, I can either stay home with my child or maintain my current career trajectory—and I’m one of the lucky ones because I get to actually make a choice.

Irish law includes a “maternity benefit” that pays 80 percent of wages to new mothers during the first 26 weeks after birth, and can begin two weeks before birth if needed. An additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave is optional. In the United States, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act requires that employers grant only 12 weeks of leave to new mothers, and payment of wages during this time is decided state by state. Only California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island offer paid leave; Washington State passed a law in 2007 requiring paid leave for new parents, but it hasn’t gone into effect because it lacks funding.

If I don’t want to leave my baby at three months of age to go back to work, I will give up my job in—ironically—global health and look for work again once my child goes to school. And to my knowledge, none of the places where I currently freelance, including The Stranger, offer paid maternity leave or anything beyond the federally mandated 12 weeks of unpaid time off. In a part of the country where global-health work is incredibly competitive and underfunded, I’ll most likely be scraping the bottom of the barrel to get back into the workforce. But my Irish friend will be able to jump back into her field with the seniority and security she’s built up over the last 10 years since we graduated and parted ways.

Numerous studies prove that women who receive paid maternity leave are more likely to return to their jobs, thereby remaining contributing, upwardly mobile members of the workforce, so why is the United States the sole industrialized country in the world that doesn’t mandate some amount of paid leave?

Full Story: The Stranger »

Mother is calling on Gov. Inslee to fund paid maternity leave (Video)

Rebecca Valley, a new mom who works as an Administrative Assistant in Everett, is calling on Governor Jay Inslee to fund paid maternity leave. When she gave birth 11 months ago to her daughter Matilda, Rebecca planned to use her three weeks of paid time off to care for her newborn. She ended up needing to take an additional two weeks of unpaid leave because of an unexpected C-section. Then she went back to work – before she or Matilda were ready – in order to pay the bills.

Rebecca is asking Washington residents to sign a petition, urging the Governor to fund an existing state law that provides for paid family leave.

Click to watch video (opens in new window) — Click to watch video from KIRO TV (opens in new window)

Five states have paid family or disability leave programs funded through payroll premiums. New moms and babies are healthier in those states, and women are more likely to be working – and for higher wages – a year after childbirth than in states without paid parental leave.

Washington passed a Paid Family Leave Law in 2007, which was supposed to go into effect in 2009. But lawmakers didn’t approve funding, and then the recession hit. Paid Family Leave has taken a back seat to other issues ever since. This year, two Washington lawmakers introduced bills to fund the program, and to include leave to care for an elderly parent or other family member or the worker’s own serious illness. The bill passed the House Labor Committee and could be passed by the full legislature next January.

What will it take to make paid family leave a priority in Washington’s legislature?

EOI’s Policy Director Marilyn Watkins responds to KIRO reporter Siemny Kim: “Every time I see a pregnant woman, I get a little frustrated and mad that we don’t have that program operating yet. Lawmakers have to hear from the public.”

Via KiroTV.com