Paid Family Leave | Introduction
Family leave insurance updates workplace standards to serve today’s families. With both parents juggling responsibilities at work and at home, it is financially impossible for many families to get the flexibility and time they need to be with their newborn or newly adopted child. It also provides an important safety net for workers by offering partial wage replacement to parents who must take a few weeks away from work to care for a newborn or newly adopted child.
Paid family leave lowers infant mortality, encourages moms to breastfeed (providing infants with protective immunity to contagious diseases), and allows women time to recover from childbirth. The care and bonding time it provides improves early learning skills and academic performance in children. And it protects our families’ economic security in the event of a crisis, providing income to parents while they are caring for their new child, rather than leaving them to deplete their assets.
Polls show three-fourths of Washington voters support family leave insurance financed by a new 3-cent-per-hour payroll tax, across party lines, geographic areas and demographic boundaries. And Washington voters aren’t alone: 26 other states have family leave laws more extensive than the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, and five of them have provided paid family leave for new mothers through temporary disability insurance programs covering pregnancy since the 1970’s.
Small business owners know supporting families is critical to their company’s success, but they often lack the resources to provide pay during extended leaves. Family leave insurance levels the playing field by providing paid family leave to all Washington workers. It boosts business profits by improving productivity and reducing costly turnover for employers.
Local businesses also stand to gain from the family leave insurance benefits spent by parents shopping for the goods and services needed by their new family. In fact, many small business owners have taken the time to come to Olympia to testify in favor of Washington’s family leave insurance program – in interviews with small business owners across western Washington last fall, over 80% supported paid family leave legislation.