Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called on the US to expand access to paid family leave across the country, citing the impact of the global health crisis and the economic downturn on women has.
In an interview aired on CNBC on Monday, Gates said the Covid-19 pandemic is drawing the curtain on the care crisis in America.
‘In the reconstruction and in this recovery, one of the things that Congress is really going to have to look at is medical family leave. It’s been coming to the United States for a very long time, ” she said in a conversation about ‘Closing Bell’. . “We are not going to recover as strongly or as quickly unless we look at this infrastructure that we have been turning away for too long.”
Gates’ comments coincide with International Women’s Day, a global effort to recognize the achievements of women and the many roles they play in society. While a comprehensive plan is critical for working women, it will also be helpful for fathers and husbands caring for sick family members.
Paid medical leave for families is an insurance program that allows employees to take time off without missing a salary. The program can be used by workers for newborns or family members who are seriously ill.
A national policy would bring America into line with other developed countries that are already giving the privilege to their citizens. According to the World Policy Analysis Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, the US is one of the only industrialized countries around the world without such a policy.
Nine states have laws on books that provide the benefit to residents, though Gates said that is not enough.
Obstacles to the idea argue that the program would be a burden for small businesses. Advocates, however, suggest that it may be funded through salary deductions.
“There are some good policies that have been implemented by the state within the state of the United States, so it is time that we consider them a nation for ourselves,” she said.
While paid leave would be helpful to general staff, the impact would be particularly beneficial to women, says Gates, a mother of three and a wife of Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft. According to Paid Leave for the United States, a group that wants to promote family leave policy, 1-in-4 mothers in the US return to work less than two weeks after giving birth.
The pandemic, which led to nearly a year of social restrictions and closures of non-essential issues, left millions of Americans out of work. The layoffs have driven women, who are leaving the workforce at higher prices than men, into a particularly difficult place.
Since February 2020, more than 2 million women have left the workforce altogether, causing their labor force participation to fall to the proportion not seen since 1988, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
Women are more likely to be caregivers of children and other family members, and paid family leave will help them hold on to their jobs. The program also offers benefits to men and helps violate the caregiver norms in the country, as men are less likely to take family leave, Gates said.
She noted that the $ 1.8 billion stimulus bill, which gives Congress its final round before being sent to President Joe Biden, includes money for the child care sector, but she insisted that more be done. She is also encouraged by the record number of women sitting in Congress, hoping their perspectives will have an impact on discussions.
“Because this care crisis is here in our faces – you know, women are sitting between caring for young children and the older generation – I think we’re going to finally see an action there,” Gates said.