Family and Medical Leave Policies

Prior to 1993, the US did not have a policy guaranteeing that employees would have their
jobs back after taking family or medical leave. This changed in 1993 when Congress passed the
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (Benokraitis 391). The FMLA requires employers to
provide employees with 12 weeks of leave after birth or adoption of a child, to recover from an
illness, or to care for a family member who is seriously sick (Benokraitis 391). The leave is,
however, unpaid. The employees, however, continue to enjoy their health benefits. Among
developed countries, only the US has such a policy. Canada and countries within the European
Union have more progressive policies. Unlike the US, Canada provides employees with 15
weeks of paid family and medical leave (Harell 247). Many EU countries also have a similar
policy. In France and Spain, for instance, employees enjoy 112 days of paid family and medical
leaves. The UK offers a leave of 280 days, during which employees are paid 90% of their
salaries (Olivetti & Petrongolo 2010).
There are also differences in childcare subsidy policies between the US, Canada, and EU.
The US does not have a national childcare subsidy program. Canada and many countries in the
European Union, however, have such policies. Canada pioneered childcare subsidy programs
when Quebec started such a program in 1996 (Busse & Gathman 10). Many EU countries
currently have similar programs where parents pay a portion of the daycare costs, and the

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government pays the rest. France and Nordic countries, for instance, heavily subsidize daycare
costs (Busse & Gothman 10).
Compared to other developed countries, the US performs poorly with regards to family
and medical leave and daycare subsidies. Like any other policy, it is essential to perform a cost-
benefit analysis of the policy to determine whether it is worth implementing. If the policy is too
costly with few benefits, then it may not make much sense to adopt it. However, when its
benefits are many compared to the costs required to bring them, then the government should
consider adopting the policy.
Looking at the policy of paid family and medical leave, it is clear that the policy has
many benefits that would make subsidies of the policy a good use of government subsidies. First,
such a policy improves productivity. When young mothers take unpaid leave, they usually hurry
back to work because they may not be able to live without monthly income (Benokraitis 391).
They are, therefore, forced to return to work before they have fully recovered physically.
Additionally, taking care of a young child often alters the sleeping patterns of mothers, as they
may have to spend much time at night looking after the child. With little sleep and while still
weak physically, such mothers are likely to be unproductive while at work.
Secondly, paid family and medical leaves increase the ability of employers to retain
workers and reduce absenteeism. It has been shown that employees who are provided with paid
family and medical leaves often return to their jobs after their leaves, unlike those who are not
provided with paid family and medical leave (Benokraitis 391). Such employees also absent
themselves from work less often.

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Third, subsidized daycare services increase female participation in the labor market.
Having more people join the labor market is undoubtedly good for the economy because it
results in more tax revenues. Given the high cost of daycare services, many women often opt not
to look for a job because they have to stay at home and take care of their young child (Busse &
Gathman 11). With subsidized daycare, they will be able to participate in the labor market even
when they have a young child because someone else will be taking care of the child rather than
themselves.
Providing employees with paid family and medical leave as well as subsidizing daycare
services, therefore, has many benefits for the employees, the employer, and the overall economy.
Employees enjoy better work-life balance. Employers also benefit as employees become more
loyal to them, as they experience fewer cases of absenteeism, and as it raises morale and
productivity of employees. As for the government, more people, particularly women, can join the
labor market, which increases government taxes. For these reasons, it would be in the US’s best
interest for the government to subsidize these policies.
Having paid family and medical leave as well as daycare subsidies will significantly aid
families experiencing financial crises. Daycare subsidies will, in particular, be of great help to
such families. Due to the high costs of daycare services, many mothers of young children opt to
stay at home to take care of the children because they cannot afford daycare services. For
families in financial crises, it means that one adult member cannot go out and look for a job that
would have brought in more income to alleviate the family’s financial situation. Moreover, even
if the mother continues working, the family will spend a significant portion of their income on
paying for daycare services. For families in financial distress, such expenditure worsens their
situation. Lastly, getting promoted at work or finding full time job (rather than part time) may

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significantly reduce financial problems of a family because such promotion or full time job often
comes with increased pay. However, mothers with young children usually bypass opportunities
for promotion or full-time job because such promotion or job comes with added responsibilities
and longer working hours which they may not be able to commit because of the need to take care
of their young ones. With day-care subsidies, families will spend less on daycare and mothers
will be free to find well-paying jobs to improve the financial situation of their families.

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Works Cited

Benokraitis, Nijole Vaicaitis. Marriages and families: Changes, choices, and constraints. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2015.
Busse, Anna, and Christina Gathmann. “Free Daycare and its Effects on Children and their
Families.” (2018).
Harell, Allison. “Attitudes Towards Work, Motherhood, and Parental Leave in Canada, the
United States, and the United Kingdom.” Mothers and Others. The Role of Parenthood in
Politics (2017): 247-267.
Olivetti, Claudia, and Barbara Petrongolo. “The economic consequences of family policies:
lessons from a century of legislation in high-income countries.” Journal of Economic
Perspectives 31.1 (2017): 205-300.