The four-week paid vacation policy was restored in the spending bill under consideration by Congress. But how likely is it to actually pass?
This is the current situation of paid vacations nationwide
Women withdrew from the labor market at an alarming rate, plagued by unemployment and unequal burdens of care responsibilities. "We always treat [paid leave] as a problem for all workers, not just women," said Sherry Lee, co-chair of the advocacy organization A Better Balance. "But the truth is that the job of taking care of the family falls on women."
Despite this, the future of national paid leave is still up in the air. Paid time off has always been the backbone of President Biden’s care platform: In the original version of the “Rebuild Better Act,” the Democratic Party designated $500 billion in the Social Safety Net Act enacted in the summer for 12 weeks of paid family visits. And sick leave, as well as additional funding for universal preschool classes and the expansion of children’s tax credits. But some moderate Democrats, including Senators Joe Manchin and Kelsten Sneima, are hesitant to price the bill at $3.5 trillion—the estimated cost over 10 years. (Democrats only need a simple majority, instead of the usual 60-vote threshold, to pass a bill through the budget coordination process, which means that if all Democrats are involved, they don’t need any Republican support.)
In lengthy negotiations on the Social Expenditure Act and the $1 trillion infrastructure package just passed, the Democrats eventually narrowed the scope of the paid vacation policy to only four weeks. Soon after, paid leave completely disappeared from the proposed bill, removed from the compromise framework proposed by Biden and the draft proposed by the House of Representatives. The public outcry was swift, reflecting the prevalence of paid leave among Americans and the impact of continued pressure from advocates over the years. (Meghan Markle even called the senator personally to advocate for paid time off.)
This is also a major disappointment for many lawmakers, including people like Kirsten Gillibrand who have been pushing for paid leave for years. A senior researcher on paid vacation policy and strategy at the think tank New America said: "Some members of the House of Representatives and senators are very angry that the things they campaigned and fought for were abandoned."
By last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had reintroduced a four-week paid vacation policy in the $1.85 trillion spending bill. But it is not clear whether even this version of the paid vacation plan will be intact in the ongoing negotiations, or if insistents like Manchin stick to the policy will make concessions, which will place a burden on the company. Shabo said that Manchin seems to be "receiving an education." "I think the next stage is to let him understand the current urgency and the historical elusiveness of bipartisan cooperation around comprehensive and inclusive policies." Although both parties support paid leave, Republicans unanimously oppose it. Incorporate into the bill. Historically, the Democrats and Republicans have also disagreeed on how to fund paid leave, so it seems unlikely that the two parties will reach a consensus on future legislation.
Nonetheless, advocates of paid leave remain optimistic, especially considering the public response and the continued commitment of legislators. "I am very excited by the strong public support," Shabo said. "It emphasizes the needs there, and people sincerely suspect that this is a policy that people don't have here but have in other parts of the world."
Although the four-week paid vacation is a significant drop from the original proposal, it will still be important if it passes. The United States is one of only six countries in the world without any national-level paid vacation guarantee (although most of the countries that provide paid vacation provide more than four weeks of vacation, whether for maternity leave or medical reasons. ). The proposal is also unique in its inclusive definition of care, which goes far beyond the parental leave policy popular in other parts of the world.
"For more than a decade, the paid vacation community has been fighting for a 12-week plan as our bottom line," said Molly Day, executive director of PL+US. "But we think the most important thing is that we have established a federal framework that guarantees paid vacation even for four weeks. For most Americans, four weeks of paid vacation is more than they have because Most Americans don’t have a day of paid vacation."
If the four weeks of paid vacation does pass — or even if it does not — advocates say the way forward will be some combination of public and private measures to supplement federal legislation. Paid family leave has been passed at the state level in nine states and Washington, DC, which ensures more than four weeks of coverage. (The most recent addition is Colorado, which is also the first state to pass paid leave by voting.) Federal employees in the United States are entitled to 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and many private sector employers have met or exceeded this policy.
"At least four weeks provide space for employers who want to do better," Shabo said. "So we will see employers in a virtuous circle. I think it is certainly possible for states to create pop-up programs similar to the SSI (low-income support program for people with disabilities) they do." Whether or not the policy is at the federal level Passed, Dai Du believes that more and more politicians will take paid leave as part of their policy platform.
Nonetheless, no matter how many weeks of paid leave are ultimately provided, it is difficult to exaggerate the symbolic significance of a federal program that covers all workers and all kinds of care. "It created a culture that values and normalizes care," Chabo said. "Now, we have nothing. What hinders us is that nothing is normal.”
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