The Coming Battle

Over Paid Leave

Indivar Dutta-Gupta
Co-Executive Director
Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality
@IndivarD
1. COVID-19 Has Illuminated & Increased the Need for Paid Leave

2. Comprehensive & Inclusive Paid Leave Can Reduce Inequity &

Improve Well-Being

3. What’s Next for Paid Leave?

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1. COVID-19 Has Illuminated & Increased the Need for Paid Leave

2. Comprehensive & Inclusive Paid Leave Can Reduce Inequity &

Improve Well-Being

3. What’s Next for Paid Leave?

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Paid Leave Supports Individuals &
Families
• Addresses universal caregiving needs
• Improves health & long-term outcomes for parents, caregivers, & their
families
Improving physical & mental health for caregivers

Improving child health and development outcomes

Improving long-term labor force participation & higher wages

• Reduces poverty

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Paid Leave Supports All of Us

• Supports employers by improving job retention

• Boosts the economy
• Lack of a national paid leave policy contributes to gender wage disparities,
the racial wealth gap, costing the US economy nearly $67 billion each
year

• Address economic and racial disparities

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1. COVID-19 Has Illuminated & Increased the Need for Paid Leave

2. Comprehensive & Inclusive Paid Leave Can Reduce Inequity &

Improve Well-Being

3. What’s Next for Paid Leave?

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Principles for Equitable Paid Leave

• Allow all workers to provide necessary care

for themselves and their families;

• Support better health & child development

outcomes for individuals & their families; &

• Ensure the financial stability of individuals,

their families, & their employers.

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President-elect Biden Supports Paid Leave

Source: BuildBackBetter.gov, JoeBiden.com

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What’s Next?
● Will national policymakers extend and improve upon FFCRA
leave?
● Will a version of the FAMILY Act advance in Congress?
● How can paid leave be financed if taxes are not raised on
households with incomes below $400,000 a year?
● What can be done unilaterally by a Biden Administration?
● Will states continue to establish their own paid leave programs?

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Thank You!
Indivar Dutta-Gupta
Co-Executive Director
@IndivarD

Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality,

Economic Security and Opportunity Initiative
GeorgetownPoverty.org
@GCPIEconSec
@GtownLawPovCntr
Prepared by: Isabella Camacho-Craft & Jessica Belledonne