Melanie L. Campbell
According to published reports, the city is experiencing a population boom for the first time in decades. With this comes a baby boom. Young people are moving to the city and they will want to stay here and raise families. At the same time, our city is experiencing a growth in the number of baby boomers who are reaching retirement age. For all of us — newcomers, retirees and everyone else living and working in the District of Columbia, at some point, we will face the need for time away from work to recover from an illness or care for a new or ailing family member.
We often hear the phrase, “think globally and act locally” and that’s exactly what the Committee of the Whole at the D.C. City Council was doing by introducing the D.C. Universal Paid Leave Act of 2015 last fall. This legislation fills a huge void by creating a paid family and medical leave program for all who live or work in the District of Columbia.
Sadly, the United States is the only industrialized nation without paid leave. And according to a survey of 170 nations by the United Nation’s International Labor Organization, the U.S. joins Papua New Guinea and Oman as the only three countries with no paid maternity leave. Because of its unique role of operating as both a municipality and a state, with the passage of this bill, the District of Columbia would join California, New Jersey and Rhode Island in offering women and men who work paid family leave. Hawaii and New York offer personal medical leave through the states’ temporary disability insurance program.
As an employer operating a national nonprofit, the passage of Universal Paid Leave Act would afford my organization the opportunity to support our employees in a truly meaningful way when they are confronted with personal illnesses or family emergencies. This happens because by pooling together resources formed among employers, the burden isn’t completely on us. In fact, this type of insurance pool has proven results for employers. None of us should have to decide between the family we love and a job we need.
Taking time off to support family life, recover from surgery or welcomes a new baby is difficult for all workers. But some have it even harder. In the District of Columbia, single women are the sole breadwinners in 37 percent of families. This number is even larger for Black women and Latinas. In these cases, workers without any other income or paid family leave are in a no-win situation. The proposed wage 100% replacement rate structure that is capped at $1,000 plus 50% of the average weekly wages in excess of $1,000 up to $3,000 gives women and men — especially low wage workers — the cushion they need to respond to their families’ needs.
The D.C. Council’s 16 weeks of leave, which can be taken all at one time or intermittently, takes seriously the amount of time it takes to recover from serious illnesses or to bond with new babies and help them thrive. This amount of time for paid leave also sets a new standard for other legislative bodies to match – a leadership role that the District is proud to plays for the nation.
Paid leave in the District of Columbia has the potential to increase economic security and impact inequality for city residents most in need of a break when hard times come to visit. With nearly 12 years of experience and analyses in California and five years in New Jersey, we have gained some useful insights. Researchers in California and New Jersey have found that women who take family leave are more likely to see a wage increase and less likely to need public assistance or welfare. In fact, in New Jersey, women who had taken the leave were far more likely to be working nine to twelve months after the birth of their child than those women who had not. Likewise, these women were thirty-nine percent less likely to receive public assistance, and fifty-four per cent more likely to have seen an increase in their wages.
Men aren’t left out either. In California, some 26 percent of claims taken to bond with a child were filed by dads in 2013, up from 17 percent in 2004 when the program started.
I strongly urge the D. C. City Council to pass the Universal Family Leave Act and the Mayor to sign it. The Universal Family Leave Act is a responsible law and if passed it will permit workers to be good parents, caring family members and effective workers.
Melanie L. Campbell is the national convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable and the President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. the nation’s largest coalition of black led-organizations and business leaders.