In a 21,000 person survey conducted by YouGov in March and April, 82% registered their support for paid maternity leave. Breaking the results down by political affiliation, 73% of Republicans support the idea, but only 21% of the workforce has access to paid leave programs. | WIPROUD

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has given his support to a paid leave plan that grants state employees three weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. Advocates say that 90% of Georgians support paid leave, while nationally, support may be as high as 82% according to recent polls. | NOW HABERSHAM | FATHERLY

While 75% of Americans favor a federal paid leave policy, currently only 20% of private workers have access to such a plan. While the Biden proposal would over the next decade would cost $225 billion, Republicans in the past have created bipartisan plans that are budget neutral by tweaking how Americans access Social Security and child tax credits. | VOX

With the Biden Administration’s announcement of a paid leave plan, Democrats should collaborate with Republicans in order to implement the policy goal without raising taxes, writes Kristin Shapiro. An increase in the payroll tax would likely harm people with the lowest income because they are less likely than higher-income earners to take advantage of the new program but would still be paying for it in taxes, she argues. | IWF

The US is the only first-world country without a mandate for paid leave at the birth of a child, but we shouldn’t let “a world obsessed with work and rat races and networking happy hours” stop us from giving some of that attention to newborn babies at least through maternity leave, writes Matt Purple for The American Conservative. As a father of a one-month-old, he was able to benefit from Washington, DC’s paid leave program, but only 17% of workers in the US are able to take advantage of similar paid maternity leave options, he writes. | THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE

New Zealand enacted a new law in March 2021 expanding their existing paid bereavement leave to include the miscarriage of an unborn child, and the US should adopt the same policy, writes Leah Libresco Sargeant for the Institute for Family Studies. Additionally, women shouldn’t have to use sick time to grieve and heal after the fact, even though in some cases it is possible to do so in the US, she writes. | IFS

Creating new ways to keep mothers or fathers home with their newborn should be the focus of legislation that addresses childcare, writes Erica Komisar for the Institute for Family Studies. Instead of universal childcare, “children need a primary caregiver who is consistent, focused on their emotional needs, and able to both buffer them from stress and soothe their distress,” she writes. | IFS

Parents in the US shared their experiences after giving birth or adopting, and their stories illustrate why paid leave is needed. The stories, compiled from 26 parents for BuzzFeed, include a father who was only able to take 1.5 days off and a mother who recounts how her “son was born on a Wednesday and I was back at work on Monday.” | BUZZFEED

The South Carolina House has passed a paid leave plan for state employees, and it includes twelve weeks of leave after the adoption or birth of a child. Should the legislation make it through the Senate and on to Governor McMaster’s desk, he intends to sign it into law. “I wish we could pay law enforcement more, a lot of people,” he says. “We need to help them as much as we can and [paid family leave is] one way we can.” | THE STATE

Momentum is building behind the paid family leave movement as more corporations and public officials embrace the policy amid the coronavirus pandemic. More than 190 American companies urged Congress in a letter on Tuesday to pass the policy in the next spending package.

The bipartisan push for federally-supported paid family leave continues, and pro-life conservatives want to lead the way.

It's estimated that the pandemic has forced more than one million women from the workforce to care for their children who are home from school. This also happens to many moms and dads with the birth of a new baby. Very few get paid leave to help that transition to family life, but there's bipartisan agreement in Congress that needs to change.

Even before the global pandemic stripped our households of critical care infrastructure and resources, America’s working families were stretched to the bone trying to make it all work. The need for adequate paid family leave policies had been growing by the year, with public policy struggling to catch up with the realities American workers had been facing on the ground.

Republicans have to recognize that their policies must address the conditions of not simply corporations, but also of the working families that keep these businesses running (and keep the Republican Party relevant).

Paid leave has been supported by leaders across the political spectrum, from President Trump to Speaker Pelosi.

Few really believe it makes sense that new parents are routinely forced to choose between caring for their newborns and genuine economic hardship. A society — and a government — that genuinely values family life can and should take appropriate steps to foster that in ways that reward personal responsibility and other small-c conservative values.

As policymakers consider how to shore up the labor force and support families during this uncertain time, an expanded paid leave policy should rise to the top of consideration, particularly for fiscal hawks hand-wringing over the nation’s ballooning debt.

My first grandchild is now two months old. Her parents are back at work, and my wife gets to babysit – something we are not taking for granted after the COVID-19 isolation these last couple of months.

Senators Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) have teamed up to introduce the fourth paid-parental-leave plan on offer this Congress, and the first bipartisan proposal of its kind. Their bill would allow new parents to obtain an advance on their child tax credit (CTC) to help with the cost during the first year of having a child.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) unveiled Congress’ first bipartisan paid family leave proposal on Tuesday, which could serve as the basis through which Congress passes a federal solution to help young parents start new families. Cassidy charged “there is no bigger kitchen table issue” than parents taking care of their newborn child.