The fight for paid family leave in America

Brut America

One in 4 women go back to work within 10 days of giving birth. Only one other country on earth has this problem. Why is it so difficult for the U.S. to fund paid family leave?

Transcript

00:00I asked my officers about leave policy, and do you know what they said?

00:05Leave. What leave? Women just leave.

00:30I ended up moving in with my parents and having them help with, you know, at least

00:46getting rid of the cost of rent and things like that.

00:49I rushed back to work as soon as I possibly could.

00:53My son, when I first went back to work, he was still under seven pounds, like he was

00:58still tiny, but I needed to go back because, you know, my mom and my dad, you know, they

01:04don't make a ton of money.

01:05I feel like our policies and procedures are set up for young families like mine to fail,

01:11and it doesn't need to be that way, especially when it's been proven to work everywhere else.

01:28Right now, it's left up to the states, so it's a hodgepodge, and you have to win the

01:36zip code lottery in order to have paid family leave.

01:51For so many Americans, just even the opportunity to take that paid leave doesn't even exist

01:55felt just morally wrong.

02:09We need to start supporting our kids and families from the beginning.

02:14My plan is three months.

02:15I think that's good.

02:16I'd love to do more.

02:23I think I was the first president to propose nationwide paid family leave in my budget.

02:33We need an actual national paid leave program, and I'm pleased to see that paid leave now

02:40has clearly become a bipartisan issue.

02:43The Family Act would finally guarantee paid family and medical leave to every working

02:48American.

02:49The Family Act is affordable.

02:51It's an accessible, earned benefit that you and your employer would contribute into together.

02:57It would stay with you for your entire career, no matter where you worked.

03:01It's universal and it's comprehensive, and it's for women and for men.

03:17If this agreement is signed into law, it will be a tremendous victory for the more

03:22than 2.1 million employees across the country.

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