How a Proposed Federal Paid Family Leave Policy Would Become a Federal Entitlement and Weaken Social Security

• Published in: Policy File 2018
• Main Authors: Greszler, Rachel, Gonshorowski, Drew
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children & youth/Families & family life; Government; Labor force/Employment; Social security; The Heritage Foundation

The United States does not have a federal paid family leave (PFL) program. It does, however, have the most substantial---and growing---provision of privately provided and state-based PFL programs. The U.S. also has job-protected family leave through the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Numerous states have created laws to expand on the federal FMLA by extending it or creating new family leave benefits. A federal PFL policy would cause many employers and states to give up their existing policies, and it would discourage those who otherwise would have established paid leave policies in the near term from doing so. It is important for lawmakers to consider the unintended---but likely---consequences of the superficially innocuous proposal of a federal PFL, including a weakened Social Security program, turning PFL into another federal entitlement, and potentially piling on significantly to federal deficits. While federal lawmakers should not enact a new national paid leave entitlement, they can and should enact policies that would make paid family leave more accessible and affordable for ordinary Americans.