One political topic that has divided voters is paid parental leave.
Though lawmakers and voters are contentious regarding the issue, for Congress paid parental leave is left up to the individual employer as it is in workplaces throughout the United States.
In the first six months of being in office, New York rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D) legislative director, Ariel Eckbald, was one of three in a small team who were new parents or expectant parents in Ocasio-Cortez’s office.
In early Spring, Eckbald returned to work, and Ocasio-Cortez has argued that providing paid parental leave would not harm the work environment and would instead instill more confidence in workers. For her, simply put, if an employer pays a living minimum wage to junior staffers, then workers won’t be forced to take on another job.
In her words, “senior staffers are confident enough in them to take parental leave and not feel like everything will fall apart.”
I’d like to share another “unusual” (but shouldn’t be) part of my office policy w/ you all: Parental Leave!
Three members of our small team are expectant or new parents in the first 6 mos of my term.
In my office, *every* new parent receives 3 mos paid leave - including dads.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 10, 2019
Earlier this year, Democrats reintroduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, and it would allow for twelve weeks of paid family leave that would be funded by a payroll tax shared between employers and employees.
4. I want to reiterate how important it is to give dads full parental leave. I strongly encourage them to take the full time.
I’ve heard the “normal” paternity leave is 2 weeks. That is NOT okay! As my partner says: “What do employers expect those new moms to do? Walk it off?”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 10, 2019
Republicans have responded by introducing a paid family leave bill that requires parents to borrow from Social Security benefits and delay retirement.
In addition, President Trump has proposed six weeks of paid leave in his 2020 Budget, and he has explained that the details of implementing the paid leave would be left up to the individual states. His budget also includes a call for $1 billion in funding for child care programs.
In a string of tweets in early May, rep. Ocasio-Cortez defended what some call an “unusual” plan, asserting that “*every* new parent receives 3 mos paid leave – including dads.”
She added that it’s vital “to give dads full parental leave,” and that she encourages all of them to take the full time.
