Letter to the Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, to the Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader of the House, to the Hon. Charles Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, to the Hon. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader - Horsford, Swalwell Lead Bicameral Group Calling on Congressional Leadership to Include Support for Working Fathers in Infrastructure and Jobs Legislation

Letter

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell:

As fathers, sons, brothers, and grandsons who serve in Congress and who will each likely need to
give and receive care in our lifetimes, we are writing to urge you to prioritize meaningful paid
leave in the next recovery and jobs plan and to work with us to pass an inclusive and effective
paid leave policy into law.

The provisions and receipt of care is a universal need, not limited to just women. In most
countries, being able to take paid time away for health, recovery, and care is simply a given for
everyone. The pandemic highlighted not only what an outlier we are in the United States for not
already having these basic protections in law, but also how fundamental they are to our economic
infrastructure and security. President Biden has included comprehensive paid family and medical
leave in the American Families Plan, and there are proposals in Congress as well. We can and we
must act now and finally pass paid leave for all in the United States.

Over the last 50 years, fathers in the United States have tripled the time they spend caring for
children. Half of men in the workforce expect to need time to care for a sick, disabled or older
family member -- the same share as women. Paid leave will increase women's labor force
participation by promoting men's involvement at home and making it easier for women to return
to the workforce. The evidence is overwhelming: access to paid leave yields returns for families'
financial health and physical wellbeing.

The market is not and will not solve this problem on its own. Currently only one in five workers
in this country have paid family leave through their employers, and only two in five have
employer-provided short-term disability. One in five retirees leave the workforce earlier than
planned to care for an ill family member. Meanwhile, evidence from states and high-road
employers shows the consistent and meaningful benefits of paid leave: it reduces turnover, puts
more money into local economies, improves the health and wellbeing of families, and makes
businesses more competitive. Studies have proven paid leave produces a positive return on
investment, and increases productivity, performance, and profitability.

Further, requiring it is a key factor in addressing racial, ethnic and gender disparities in access to
and use of paid leave. Understanding these disparities is important in light of evidence from
national surveys that indicate that parents from communities of color frequently do not take
unpaid leave because they cannot afford it, and disparities in access to wealth and wealth
building are compounded by a lack of access to paid leave.

We cannot maintain our global competitiveness or prepare a 21st century workforce if our
workplace policies leave our workers behind the rest of the world and are not resilient enough to
meet crisis moments, whether a global pandemic or a family emergency. The reality that more
than two million women have left the workforce entirely over the course of the last year, impacts
far more than women; it impacts their partners, their families, their coworkers and communities.
In fact, according to the AARP, 40 percent of family caregivers are men. This hole in our
infrastructure impacts all of our bottom lines. Families in America lose $22.5 billion each year
because of a lack of paid leave. We cannot afford the high cost of inaction.

Paid leave has the broad support of voters across party lines. Paid leave has consistently been
voters' top relief policy, and one they want permanently -- we must meet them. The challenges of
the last year with COVID-19, and the challenges working families have been absorbing for years
before, have brought us to an inflection point. The pandemic has made clear how critical paid
family leave is for everyone, and now is the time to make it a reality. We need a paid leave
framework that is accessible and affordable for every working family across the country, which
would apply to men as well as women.

We ask you to join us in prioritizing this life saving policy. Thank you for your commitment to
care, for your leadership and your partnership.

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