Family leave

Air Date: July 16, 2013

Guests: Ellen Bravo and Lonnie Golden

Just three states guarantee workers paid time off for family leave – whether to spend time with a new baby or adoptive child, or care for a seriously ill family member. Last week, Rhode Island joined California and New Jersey by passing the Temporary Caregiver Insurance Bill. The new law will allow workers up to four weeks of paid leave and job protection provided they pay into an insurance pool. Studies have suggested that the laws in California and New Jersey are making workers more productive and keeping them in their jobs longer. So why do so few states offer these benefits? And does the Rhode Island decision suggest that’s starting to change? We’re joined by ELLEN BRAVO, Director of Family Values at Work and author of Taking on the Big Boys, or Why Feminism is Good for Families, Business and the Nation, and LONNIE GOLDEN, Professor of Economics at Pennsylvania State University.

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