U.S. gives 6 areas funds to start paid family leave

In California, the first state to guarantee paid family leave for all workers since 2004, payroll deductions fund a state-run insurance pool that allows employees to take off up to six weeks at partial income.

Working parents in New Jersey and Rhode Island receive comparable benefits. New York state, meanwhile, recently passed similar laws that ensure compensation doesn’t disappear when employees pause work to care for a new child or sick relative.

The public programs provide pay for workers whose employers don’t offer the benefit — and the federal government wants to see local efforts spread.

The U.S. Labor Department on Tuesday announced it will grant $1.1 million to six states and municipalities that want to start their own paid familyleave programs.

The recipients — Denver, Franklin, Ohio; Madison, Wis.; and the states of Hawaii, Indiana and Pennsylvania — will use the money to research how much it would cost to open the public aid to its residents, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said.

“Our nation has increasingly recognized we are far behind the world on this critical issue,” he said.

The United States guarantees just 12 weeks of job-protected time off to new parents — none of which is paid.

The issue is also fiercely divisive: The Democratic Party believes all workers should be paid for those 12 weeks leave, while Republican leaders have argued such rules would damage business and discourage employers from hiring young women.

Some oppose local mandates, too. Rhode Island state Rep. Brian Newberry told CBS News last year the publicly funded paid-leave program effectively imposes a tax on many people who would never benefit from it. The insurance, he said, should be private.