The Privilege of Paid Leave

“We’re gonna give birth in this tub, we’re gonna go home, we’re gonna relax, life’s gonna continue.” That was the plan for Dave and his wife—but life, of course, had other ideas.

After 20 hours of arduous labor, Dave’s wife was transferred from the birthing center to the nearest hospital across the street. Fifteen more hours of labor ensued. When their daughter, Ellie, finally arrived, nurses whisked her away to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Drawing on his vacation time, Dave managed to take a week and a half off from work to be with his family. But far sooner than he would have liked, he went back to work—Dave needed to put food on the table, and that meant leaving his wife and child.

Dave’s story is similar to those of countless men across the United States—fathers, partners, spouses, sons, and brothers. That trend is explored in a recent report from New America’s Better Life Lab (BLL), which found that men’s decisions to take time off typically come down to affordability. For many Americans—especially those from low-income households or without a college degree – taking unpaid leave is a financial impossibility. Existing structures around both paid and unpaid leave don’t benefit individuals who need it most—and, in fact, can potentially exacerbate existing socioeconomic inequalities.

In order to erase these barriers to access, economic justice must be centered in discussions about the future of federal paid leave policies. Implementing an equitable paid family policy is critical for vulnerable communities—particularly communities of color, which are overrepresented in low-wage occupations and systemically denied access to wealth and social mobility.

The existing federal paid leave law, the Family And Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), guarantees eligible employees access to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. While it’s a step in the right direction, it’s far from an equitable solution: To qualify for unpaid leave under FMLA, workers must have worked at least 1,250 hours for 12 months for an employer—a requirement that bars huge swathes of people in the United States, particularly low-income workers (e.g. part time, seasonal, and migrant workers), from access.

According to the Pew Research Center, employers and industries play a large role in whether or not workers have access to paid family leave. Those with the most access often work in fields with higher pay, such as finance. Meanwhile, people working in low-wage occupations, such as transportation, leisure and hospitality, trade, and construction, were least likely to have access to this benefit, despite their lower wages and greater need.

BLL’s research affirms these findings. According to the report, workers from lower-income households(often working in these industries) were more than twice as likely to take unpaid leave for caregiving than their peers with higher incomes. Only 41 percent of workers making less than $30,000 had access to partially or fully paid leave, in comparison to 75 percent of workers earning more than $100,000. Respondents with higher income and more education had greater access to paid leave and were also more likely to be fully paid when they took that leave.

Low-wage Black and Latino workers are particularly impacted by lack of access to leave. Both are overrepresented in occupations that provide the least access to paid leave, including food service preparation, building maintenance, and construction. Even if given access to unpaid leave, Black and Latino families would be relatively less financially secure: The Federal Reserve Board reports that 1 out of ten Black and Latino families doesn’t have a savings account, and that the majority would struggle to pay their bills if they had to deal with an emergency costing $400.

As a result, low-income earners who manage to take time off to care for their loved ones often make major sacrifices. Among their peers, they are more likely to employ a number of strategies to make ends meet—according to BLL’s study, 25 percent put off paying bills, and 44 percent limited how much they spent on basic needs. Twenty percent reported enrolling in public assistance programs, and 8 percent asked for donations and charitable assistance.

This landscape of inequality has been reinforced by inherently discriminatory policies. Historically, some of the United States’ most impactful social and economic policies have excluded people of color—particularly Black people. The Social Security Act of 1935, for example, barred agricultural and domestic workers (many of whom were Black), while the National Labor Relations Act also excludes agricultural and domestic workers—many of whom are minorities and immigrants. And, of course, the FMLA’s exclusion of low-wage workers renders leave inaccessible for many people of color.

Today, caregiving leave is a privilege—one that's primarily available to those with economic means. Expanding access to resources that alleviate caregiving costs requires a willingness to dismantle policies that perpetuate economic and racial injustice—and replace them with solutions that serve all families.