Trump and Clinton plans for paid family leave scrutinized

The 2016 presidential election marks the first time both Democratic and Republican candidates have offeredplans formandated family leave.

Democrat Hillary Clinton’s plan would mandate that employers give 12 weeks of paid leave after the birth of a child. Paymentwould be at least twothirds of an employee’s regular salary. The cost of the programwould be paid for by increasing taxes on thewealthiest Americans.

An alternative plan offered by Republican Donald Trump would give employees six weeks of paid leave after the birth of a child and would only apply towomenwhoaremarried. Men and single women would not be eligible, but women in samesex marriageswould be.

The United States and Papua New Guinea are the only two countries in the world that don’t mandate paid family leave. Papua NewGuinea, a small South Pacific nation, has about 310 million fewer people and is mostly jungle.

“InMexico, it’s12weeks, to more than three years in Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia,” said Donna Artes of the American Association of University Women. “Here in the United States, we have the Family Medical Leave Act which entitles people to 12 weeks, but it’s unpaid. You’re only guaranteed your job when you come back. And it only applies to half ofworkers.”

Artes was part of a fiveperson panel that met Thursday at the library in downtown West Palm Beach to discuss the presidential candidates’ paid family leave plans.

The panelwas put on by the Clinton campaign. While some Democrats have long called for paid family leave to be required by law, most Republicans have been against such plans, arguing it would hurt businesses.

The need for paid family leave is especially important in Florida.

“Florida is one of 31 states where the cost of infant care is higher than the cost of one year in public state college,” said former state Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Boca Raton Democrat who also was on the panel. “It costs about $6,300 to send a child to public college for one year, and that is something we can boast about. … But it costs $8,300 on average for a year of child care.”

According to state Rep. Lori Berman, D-Lantana, breakdowns in child care cost Florida businesses billions of dollars each year as workers are forced to take days off or leave early in order to take care of their children.

In Trump’s plan, paid family leave would be an extension of unemployment insurance. These paymentsvary greatly from state to state. In Florida, the maximum payment is $275 perweek.

At the panel, Dr. Ronald Romear, a pediatrician, criticized the fact that Trump’s plan only covers marriedwomen.

“This is what happens when youput forth apolicy that does not recognize that America has moved forward,” Romear said. “There are single moms, there are single dads, there is every combination you could think of.”

Although it only covers married women, only for six weeks, and at a smaller rate of pay, Trump’s plan does so without raising taxes.

“Something is better than nothing,” Artes said. “[If ] he were to get in, hopefully hewould expand on it.”