Judy Lichtman's Remarks

Testimony of Judith L. Lichtman
Friday October 31, 2003
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Take Care Net Launch

Thank you to Senator Kennedy, Holly Fechner, and Take Care Net for organizing this important briefing. I’m pleased to be here today to discuss successful federal strategies and policies that can help women and men balance work and family.

As many of you know, the National Partnership for Women & Families led the fight for passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act that was passed just ten years ago.

Although many of us now take the FMLA for granted – when it was first introduced we were told it was a pipe dream that would never become law.

We made a strategic decision, NOT to scale back the proposal just to cover maternity leave even though the smaller scope was likely to secure passage.

One of our greatest fears was creating a law that might lead to a backlash against women and further discrimination in the workplace - if women and not men would be the only ones with job protected leave.

It was critical for the FMLA to apply to both men and women. The only way for work family policies to really combat discrimination is for men to start taking advantage of them. In addition, including all types of family leave and not just parental leave strengthened our coalition membership and helped cement public support for the proposal.

We also made the decision to a have simultaneous state level campaign to enact Family and Medical Leave Laws. We felt that state laws could serve as examples for a national policy. State proposals and victories helped generate local support and media coverage.

Lastly, we highlighted examples of progressive business and state employers that offered Family and Medical Leave benefits to show that these policies were possible, practical, and economical.

It took years – 8 to be specific – of hard work and coalition building before we saw the national FMLA become law.

Since then, 40 million Americans have been able to take unpaid leave: more parents are spending precious time with new babies, fewer children have to face hospital stays alone, and more workers can care for their parents in an emergency.

But, as our presence today demonstrates, our work is far from done. The lack of benefits and policies available to help American families is appalling. Unless we do something the crisis will only get worse as elder care becomes a growing concern for people in the workforce. We cannot afford to be cutting benefits like child care subsidies, increasing work hours, and reducing access to paid leave.

The strategies that worked for the FMLA can be used as a model for successful national campaigns. As was the case for the original FMLA, successful strategies should include looking to the States and the private sector for existing models.

Four years ago the National Partnership for Women & Families launched a Campaign for Family Leave Benefits– to fight for a family leave benefit that helps working families afford to take family or medical leave when they need it.

Almost 10% of families that take Family and Medical Leave and don’t receive full pay wind up on public assistance. More than 300,000 bankruptcies could be prevented each year with access to paid Family and Medical Leave.

Armed with these statistics and often the research of academics like those who have joined Take Care Net, at least 30 states have introduced legislation to provide paid leave benefits. As a result several of the states have policies that can serve as models.

Paid Family Leave: Beginning in July of next year employees in California will have access to up to 6 weeks of paid family leave.

Temporary Disability Insurance: Five states, California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico have mandated short-term disability for public and private sector employees. These programs provide coverage to employees suffering from non-job related injuries and/or illnesses and maternity related disability.

At Home Infant Care: These proposals allow parents eligible for childcare subsidies to receive funding if they stay at home with their infant. Minnesota began it’s at home infant care program in 1998. Montana began a similar program in December 2001. These programs recognize the reality that in some places infant care is not available - not affordable, or both. State and federal budgetary cuts have put these promising programs in danger and made it difficult for other states to duplicate their efforts. Despite bipartisan support, $150 million in federal funding for state AHIC programs included in last year’s Finance Committee TANF mark has not been included in the pared down short-term reauthorizations.

Sick Leave: 76% of low-wage workers and 47% of the private sector work force have absolutely no paid sick leave. Policy makers and leaders like Senator Kennedy considering proposals to make sure all employees have access to sick leave for themselves and family members.

Flexible Sick Leave: California, Hawaii, Washington and Connecticut have laws that allow workers to use already accrued sick leave for FMLA as well as less serious family illnesses such as taking care of a child with the flu.

Shared Leave: Some employers including many state employers allow employees to donate unused paid leave to co-workers in need.

Educational Leave / Routine Medical Leave: Seven states have enacted FMLA expansions to provide additional leave for involvement in children’s educational activities like parent teacher conferences. Massachusetts and Vermont both provide leave for routine or emergency medical needs of a family member as well as for children’s educational activities.

FMLA Coverage: The federal FMLA excludes more than 35% of workers because it only covers businesses that employ 50 or more employees. Women and men working in Washington D.C. are covered by a district FMLA law that includes employers with 20 or more employees.

These are just a few of the promising models already available that we can work together to build upon and create national programs. Policy makers like Senator Kennedy have always been a part of the solution. We applaud his efforts and the efforts of countless other federal and state policy makers that are working to make family friendly policy the law. I also want to thank all of the academics that develop the research and information to help build the case for these important policies.

I look forward to working with all of you to help create policies of which we can all be proud.

I welcome your questions.

Thank you.