Paid Family Leave: Cultivating The Root Of Humanity

    This just off the AP wire:

The United States lags far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding, a new study by Harvard and McGill University researchers says.

The new data comes as politicians and lobbyists wrangle over whether to scale back the existing federal law providing unpaid family leaves or to push new legislation allowing paid leaves.

The study, officially being issued Thursday, says workplace policies for families in the United States are weaker than those of all high-income countries and many middle- and low-income countries. Notably, it says the U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in the survey that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave; the others are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea.

 When I hear these kinds of stories I immediately think: what would Confucius do?  And, in this case, it is a no-brainer.  Government must finds ways of maximizing social support for families, especially as pressures of globalization make it harder and harder for individuals to use their time and resources to fulfill their family commitments.  Increasingly competitive world markets require longer work hours and multiple jobs, taking parents away from children and elders.  There must be countervailing social policies to provide a modicum of time and money for people trying to do the right thing by their family members.  How can we care for elders - what Confucius called the "root of humanity" - if we can't take paid time off our jobs to do it?  That, at any rate, is what Confucius would say.

     It appears that the current administration is, as usual, moving in the wrong direction:

The Labor Department is examining regulations that give workers unpaid leave to deal with family or medical emergencies — a review that supporters of the rules worry might be a prelude to scaling back these protections, as requested by some business groups. Comments to the agency on the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act — which grants eligible workers up to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year — are due by Feb. 16.

 This, to me, is another example of the internal contradictions of American conservatism.  On the one hand, they argue for "family values" (though we don't hear that specific phrase very much these days); on the other, it's all about business.  In the case of family leave policies, profit-seeking business interests obviously prevail.   

     Happily, a Confucian-esque policy is being pursued by Sentaor Christopher Dodd (does he konw he is doing the Confucian thing?):

At the same time, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., plans to announce Thursday that he will propose new legislation that would enable workers to take six weeks of paid family leave. Congress also is expected to reconsider the Healthy Families Act, a bill introduced last session that would require employers with at least 15 employees to provide seven paid sick days per year.

 I think he will clearly win the Confucian vote in the Senate....

Comments

[Happy Dee]

"In ruling the people and in serving heaven it is best for a ruler to be sparing, it is because he is sparing, that he may be said to follow the way from the start ..." translated by DC Lau

Family leave? No brainer here, either. Or maybe so.

[Elisabeth's Mom ...]

Yes, when ruling be sparing. Do not interfere with the family way. Translation: If Mom or Dad have family needs, the ruler should not interfere. By removing wages for any loss time at work would also be interfering.

"It is because he is sparing, that he may be said to follow the way from the start."