The Biden administration is considering a scaled-down version of a coronavirus-related paid leave program. The legislation would provide workers with two weeks of COVID-related sick leave at full pay and 12 weeks of family and medical leave at two-thirds pay.
The United States is the only wealthy nation without a federal paid leave policy. An estimated four in five workers lack access to paid family leave, while 60% lack access to paid medical leave. More than two in 10 do not have access to paid sick leave.
COVID and most recently, the surging Omicron variant has called attention to the issue. In the last month, nearly nine million people reported they could not work because they either had COVID or were caring for someone who did, according to the Census Bureau.
Advocates are hopeful on enacting a longer term paid leave program. The temporary program is only a Band-aid solution for the longer-term needs that our country has around ensuring every person is the country has access to permanent, paid family medical leave. Both for the future of COVID and the other pandemic that comes our way, but also for the ongoing needs that we all know people experience day in and day out.