Michael R. Strain, Columnist

Parental Leave Is Great. Just Don't Mandate It.

There are better ways to help the working poor than to create another middle-class entitlement.

July 18, 2017 at 4:49 PM UTC

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

She doesn't need the government.
Photographer: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

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Workers who receive paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child experience significant benefits. They can bond with their child without having to worry about a steep reduction in household income. There’s evidence that parental leave can improve the health outcomes of children and mothers. At a time when both dual-earning and single-parent households are common, time off with pay fills a void that’s larger than in previous decades.

The argument that the federal government should mandate paid parental leave has been gaining currency of late. In her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton called for 12 weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, with workers receiving at least two-thirds of their current wages (up to a ceiling). Combined with paid leave for other medical events, Clinton’s proposal carried an estimated price tag of $300 billion over 10 years. Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump’s daughter, supports paid leave, a large factor in the White House decision to include a mandated six weeks of paid parental leave in its 2018 budget. Three states have implemented paid parental leave programs, as well.