Is Paid Parental Leave Finally Coming To The U.S.? Published: Apr 19, 2021, 7:00am Editorial Note: Forbes may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn t affect our editors opinions or evaluations.
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The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee paid parental leave and most of those who qualify for the standard unpaid leave don’t use it because they can’t afford to.
Parental leave is a crucial part of the social safety net that ensures your job is protected when you have to take time off to give birth to or care for a child. The national mandate for unpaid parental leave in the U.S. also covers workers’ time off to tend to a serious injury, whether it’s theirs or a family member’s.
KXLY
April 19, 2021 4:00 AM Kelly Anne Smith - Forbes Advisor
Posted:
Updated:
April 19, 2021 9:53 AM
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee paid parental leave and most of those who qualify for the standard unpaid leave don’t use it because they can’t afford to.
Parental leave is a crucial part of the social safety net that ensures your job is protected when you have to take time off to give birth to or care for a child. The national mandate for unpaid parental leave in the U.S. also covers workers’ time off to tend to a serious injury, whether it’s theirs or a family member’s.
KPMG
Replacing the federal government’s Paid Parental Leave (PPL) system with one based on principles of gender equality is essential to tackling impediments to women’s economic participation, and would help Australia move on a wider level towards equal responsibility for raising children, KPMG argues in a paper released today. The report was developed with the Business Council of Australia’s Women’s Participation Taskforce.
The current PPL system provides for 20 weeks paid at the minimum wage. There are 18 weeks usually paid to the mother, and two weeks are generally paid to the father, as “Dad and Partner Pay”
Unions NSW, the National Tertiary Education Union, the Electrical Trade Union, Public Service Association, the NSW Nurses, the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union, theFlight Attendants Association of Australia, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, the Hair Stylists Australia and the United Services Union attended. The Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends and Asian Women at Work were also present.
Speakers included Beverly Baker from the Older Women’s Network, Trish Doyle from the Australian Labor Party, Greens MP Jenny Leong and world-record holding marathon swimmer and domestic violence survivor Chloe McCardel.
Leong talked about the need for sexual consent education following a petition launched by 22-year-old Chanel Contos who shared her story of sexual violence at school. It has encouraged thousands of others to share their stories on Teach Us Consent. The petition has received more than 30,000 signatures and more than 2800 testimonies.
Source: New Zealand Government
âThis International Womenâs Day I acknowledge the women who have been crucial in our COVID-19 recovery â our scientists, healthcare professionals, and essential workers â and everyone who is working every day to help women and girls achieve their potential in Aotearoa New Zealand,â says Minister for Women Jan Tinetti
âThis Government is delivering for New Zealand women â a couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, and I announced that from June all primary, intermediate, secondary school and kura students will have access to free period products. This will make a huge impact on studentsâ wellbeing and help reduce barriers to education.