At Hearing, Senator Warren Highlights Need for National Paid Leave Program
Warren: “Paid leave helps families improve their economic security and it’s good for businesses at the same time”
Washington, D.C. — At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families, on the overwhelming economic benefits of paid leave programs for workers, businesses, and families, including the success of the state-level program in Massachusetts. Senator Warren also called for a national paid leave program to help increase labor force participation and ease the burden of women workers, who are often forced to choose between work and caregiving responsibilities.
Transcript: Exploring Paid Leave: Policy, Practice, and Impact on the Workforce
U.S. Senate Committee on Finance
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Women workers saw steep job losses during the pandemic. And while women’s labor force participation has bounced back, it has been stuck at 10 points lower than men’s labor force participation for the past quarter century.
That’s because women still bear the burden of care work – they take care of children, they take care of sick relatives, they take care of parents with disabilities and that means that too often, women workers – and particularly women of color – must choose between getting paid or caring for a loved one.
A key way to address this problem is through a national paid family and medical leave program – so all workers have the support they need to balance work and caregiving responsibilities.
Some states, including Massachusetts, have already set up their own paid family and medical leave programs. Ms. Frye, how does the Massachusetts paid leave program work? Can you just explain to everyone how we’re set up?
Jocelyn Frye, President, National Partnership for Women & Families, Washington, DC: Sure. Absolutely. Senator, thank you. You know, Massachusetts has a very strong program. They’ve been able to make use of some of the best practices across the country. It offers 12 weeks of paid leave for family reasons, I think 20 weeks for medical purposes. They have progressive wage replacement so lower wage workers get more of their pay, about 80%, which is significant and it has job protection so that people, if they take leave, their job is protected. So it’s an important program. It also allows additional time for military service members as well.
Senator Warren: And, as I understand it, we cover the overwhelming majority of our workers in Massachusetts with this program. And are workers in Massachusetts actually using the program? What have you seen, Ms. Frye? Especially women?
Ms. Frye: Absolutely. What we know from the early data is that the majority of people who’ve taken claims are women, a little over 60%. More than half of those women have been taking it for their own personal leave. So it's working and that’s important. That’s exactly what we want in a program.
Senator Warren: Good! So we’ve got it. It’s a robust program. People are using it. And the program is relatively new in Massachusetts, but in looking at data from other states that have paid leave programs for years, the impact seems to be pretty clear. Ms. Frye, in states like Massachusetts that have paid leave programs, do we see positive economic outcomes, both for workers and for businesses?
Ms. Frye: Well, that's why it’s so important. We definitely see positive outcomes in terms of labor force participation. It allows folks to stay longer, retain their jobs, grow their wages, which is exactly what we want. You know, our priority is keeping women in the labor market because it supports them, and it supports their families. Women are increasingly breadwinners. Two thirds of moms are breadwinners, even higher for Black and Latino moms. More than 85% of Black mothers are breadwinners in their families. So it’s so critical to have that labor force attachment and it also helps to close the wage gap. I said earlier what we know, in Massachusetts in particular, there's a significant wage gap and this is one of the strategies to help fix it.
Senator Warren: This is terrific. I really appreciate your explaining all of this. Paid leave helps families improve their economic security and it’s good for businesses at the same time because we get higher workforce participation when we do this. Clearly there is a need for leave programs, especially for women workers. But the state you live in shouldn’t determine whether you can take time off from work to care for a sick family member at the same time that you're trying to put food on the table. We need a national paid leave program. President Biden has called for it. It is time for Congress to act on this. Thank you again. I yield, Mr. Chair.
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