Nueva Zelanda estableció una nueva ley en marzo de 2021 que amplía su tiempo libre remunerado para incluir la pérdida inesperada de un niño que aún no ha nacido, y Estados Unidos debería adoptar la misma política, escribe Leah Libresco Sargeant del Instituto de Estudios Familiares. Además, las mujeres no deberían tener que usar el tiempo de enfermedad para llorar y sanar después de la circunstancia, aunque en algunos casos es posible hacerlo en los EE. UU., Escribe. | IFS

Creating new ways to keep mothers or fathers home with their newborn should be the focus of legislation that addresses childcare, writes Erica Komisar for the Institute for Family Studies. Instead of universal childcare, “children need a primary caregiver who is consistent, focused on their emotional needs, and able to both buffer them from stress and soothe their distress,” she writes. | IFS

Los padres en los EE. UU. Compartieron sus experiencias después de dar a luz o adoptar, y sus historias ilustran por qué se necesita una licencia pagada. Las historias, compiladas por 26 padres para BuzzFeed, incluyen a un padre que solo pudo tomarse un día y medio de descanso y una madre que cuenta cómo su "hijo nació un miércoles y yo volví al trabajo el lunes".

The South Carolina House has passed a paid leave plan for state employees, and it includes twelve weeks of leave after the adoption or birth of a child. Should the legislation make it through the Senate and on to Governor McMaster’s desk, he intends to sign it into law. “I wish we could pay law enforcement more, a lot of people,” he says. “We need to help them as much as we can and [paid family leave is] one way we can.” | THE STATE

El impulso se está construyendo detrás del movimiento deL Permiso Familiar Pagado a medida que más corporaciones y funcionarios públicos adoptan la política en medio de la pandemia de coronavirus.

The bipartisan push for federally-supported paid family leave continues, and pro-life conservatives want to lead the way.

Se estima que la pandemia ha obligado a más de un millón de mujeres de la fuerza laboral a cuidar a sus hijos que regresan de la escuela. Esto también les sucede a muchas mamás y papás con el nacimiento de un nuevo bebé. Muy pocos reciben licencia paga para ayudar en la transición a la vida familiar, pero hay un acuerdo bipartidista en el Congreso que debe cambiar.

Even before the global pandemic stripped our households of critical care infrastructure and resources, America’s working families were stretched to the bone trying to make it all work. The need for adequate paid family leave policies had been growing by the year, with public policy struggling to catch up with the realities American workers had been facing on the ground.

Según informes recientes, su administración está pidiendo al Congreso que apruebe una legislación que haga que el IRS distribuya cheques mensuales directamente a los padres: $ 300 ($ 3,600 anuales) por cada niño menor de seis años y $ 250 por cada niño de 6 a 17 años.

Paid leave has been supported by leaders across the political spectrum, from President Trump to Speaker Pelosi.

Few really believe it makes sense that new parents are routinely forced to choose between caring for their newborns and genuine economic hardship. A society — and a government — that genuinely values family life can and should take appropriate steps to foster that in ways that reward personal responsibility and other small-c conservative values.

As policymakers consider how to shore up the labor force and support families during this uncertain time, an expanded paid leave policy should rise to the top of consideration, particularly for fiscal hawks hand-wringing over the nation’s ballooning debt.

My first grandchild is now two months old. Her parents are back at work, and my wife gets to babysit – something we are not taking for granted after the COVID-19 isolation these last couple of months.

Senators Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) have teamed up to introduce the fourth paid-parental-leave plan on offer this Congress, and the first bipartisan proposal of its kind. Their bill would allow new parents to obtain an advance on their child tax credit (CTC) to help with the cost during the first year of having a child.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) unveiled Congress’ first bipartisan paid family leave proposal on Tuesday, which could serve as the basis through which Congress passes a federal solution to help young parents start new families. Cassidy charged “there is no bigger kitchen table issue” than parents taking care of their newborn child.

Video: Kristan Hawkins discusses a fiscally responsible plan for paid family leave.

Despite the very real economic gains most Americans have begun to make under the helpful policies of President Trump, working families remain in a state of crisis both financially and socially.

Advocates have long backed a national mandate for paid parental leave in the U.S., but it looks increasingly like it may pass in the near future, in part due to support from Republicans and the business lobby.

On Tuesday, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the Child Rearing and Development Leave Empowerment Act, legislation that would for the first time provide universal access for all workers to paid parental leave.

Conservatives have long opposed the idea of government involvement in the provision of paid-leave benefits, recognizing its tremendous downsides, but the approach taken by Lee and Ernst avoids those downsides: It simply reforms an existing entitlement program so that people have greater flexibility and control over when they can access benefits.