U.S. Gov't Makes Push For Paid Leave
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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Mother of three, Stephanie Howard is one of the lucky ones. The registered nurse and parenting instructor was able to take paid time off when her sons were born.
"It was critical," says Howard, "just to get in that routine, to recover…to heal." The fact that her husband was able to use paternity leave to join her when 17-month-old Gabriel arrived made the time extra special. But, as she talks to other new moms in her Medical City Children's Hospital parenting classes, she knows such time off is a luxury that few workers enjoy.
"No, definitely not the norm," says Howard, "some are lucky to get two weeks, four weeks, to take the old traditional 12 weeks off? It's almost unheard of now…even six weeks."
Administration officials have called the U.S. lack of paid family leave an 'embarrassment'—especially when compared to leave policies in other developed nations.
"In New Zealand, you get 16 weeks paid leave at $400 a week if you work full time," says Lee Campbell. Campbell, his American born wife and four-month-old daughter Corinne moved to Dallas a couple of weeks ago for his wife's job. "It's better than nothing," says Campbell of the paid time off that is not routine here.
In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 40 percent of private sector employers provide no paid leave time at all.
It's a situation that President Obama wants to see change. However, it is highly unlikely that the Republican controlled Congress will mandate better employee benefits. And economist Mike Davis, SMU's Cox School of Business, says such a path could lead to unintended consequences.
"It almost never works the way we think it's going to work," says Davis, who believes that the better path to improving benefits is to improve workers' skills so that they are in a position to demand better. Otherwise, "they're going cut wages, or they're going to cut some other kinds of benefits. So it's very hard for the government to come along and just pass a law that says we want you to treat your employees better."
Still, Howard is convinced that the extra time at home with baby is best for everyone.
"Everybody wins -- baby, mom, dad, employers… employee comes back and they're a little more focused and ready."
