The Healthy Delaware Families Act

Healthy Families Mean a Healthy Economy

BY SENATOR SARAH MCBRIDE

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has underscored a simple truth: we can’t keep our economy going when we force workers to choose between their job and their family’s health.

While eventually conquering this pandemic will bring some workers back into the fold—even before COVID-19—the United States had already fallen behind other countries in workforce participation among critical populations, especially women. Without smarter, long-term reforms, we will fall further behind.

By adopting policies like paid leave that empower people to take care of their health and support caregivers in their responsibilities, we can put people back to work while also doing right by families facing the most human needs.

Modeled after similar programs in other states, the Healthy Delaware Families Act would create a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program in Delaware. These programs don’t just provide a critical support system for both workers and businesses at an affordable price, they are proven to be beneficial for both individual employers and our economy as a whole.

In New York and New Jersey, 71 percent of small businesses said they were supportive of their states’ paid leave programs after implementation. In California, more than 90 percent of businesses report that their state paid leave program has either had no impact or a positive impact on the bottom line, with smaller businesses even more likely than large businesses to report those positive impacts.

State paid leave programs are proven to improve workforce participation, including keeping new parents in their jobs and extending the careers of older workers. Recent polling found that 38 percent of unemployed workers said that access to paid family leave policies would make them more likely to return to work sooner.

While paid leave programs put people back to work, we also know they do not lead those who are working to take noticeably more leave. A 2018 survey by the U.S. Department of Labor found that states with paid leave programs did not experience higher rates of workers taking leave for family or medical-related reasons nor did those states see meaningfully longer work absences than non-paid leave states (only a two-day average increase). The only notable difference was that, unsurprisingly, the workers in states with paid leave were significantly more likely to have been able to access pay during these major life events. This compelling data reinforces the simple truth: paid leave policies don’t create life events or even noticeably increase people taking off, they simply ensure that there is a support system in place for workers and families when they need it.

In January, I reintroduced this legislation with several meaningful compromises after months of conversations with stakeholders across Delaware, including business owners and chambers of commerce. Nearly every request by the business community was incorporated in some way, including limiting covered relationships, enhancing eligibility to require an employee work for their employer for a year, decreasing the length of certain forms of leave, a longer implementation timeline, and not requiring participation from certain smaller businesses—an unprecedented edit among statewide insurance programs.

When politics so often seems incapable of finding compromise, the Healthy Delaware Families Act proves otherwise. It’s a win-win for employers and employees and it will make Delaware both more competitive and compassionate.

The purpose of these articles is to provide the platform for two perspectives to be shared. The views are that of the authors. Read the other perspective here: https://issuu.com/destatechamber/docs/delaware_business_march_april_2022_7064/s/15080920

Senator Sarah McBride represents the First State Senate District, which includes Claymont, Bellefonte, and parts of Edgemoor and Wilmington.