Parental Leave: Is There a Case for Federal Action?

Capitol Hill Briefing

October 12, 2018 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT

2075 Rayburn House Office Building

Featuring Vanessa Brown Calder, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute; Emily Ekins, Director of Polling, Cato Institute; Veronique de Rugy, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University; Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in economics, budget, and entitlements, Heritage Foundation; moderated by Matt Weibel, Director of Government Affairs, Cato Institute.

Paid family leave has become an issue of national significance, and some policymakers think the federal policy status quo is insufficient. As a result, in 2017 congressional Democrats proposed funding leave through payroll taxes on businesses and workers, and the Trump administration suggested providing paid parental leave through state unemployment insurance. In 2018, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) proposed legislation allowing workers to dip into Social Security retirement benefits to cover paid leave.

Please join us for a conversation about paid family leave and current federal proposals for paid leave. Emily Ekins, director of polling at Cato Institute, will provide a first look at new public opinion polling on paid leave. Vanessa Brown Calder, Veronique de Rugy, and Rachel Greszler will discuss their research on paid family leave, with a focus on current federal proposals like the FAMILY Act (the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act) and Social Security–paid family leave.