By Emily Andrews and Nat Baldino
Recent worker unrest, waves of strikes, and the Great Resignation are clarion calls for better job quality. America is awash in jobs that pay low wages and offer little to no benefits, insufficient hours, and unstable schedules. In response, workers are sending an undeniable message to employers: take this job and shove it!
Fortunately, Congress has the opportunity to improve job quality across the board by passing universal paid leave as part of the Build Back Better Act.
In August, a record-breaking 4.3 million people quit their jobs. September topped that with an eye-popping 4.4 million — 3 percent of the total labor force — resigning. The latest data released just this week shows the trend continued in October, with another 4.2 million workers betting on a better future and breaking ties with their bad jobs. In a similar trend exposing worker dissatisfaction, tens of thousands of union workers this fall exercised their right to strike — fighting back company concessions and demanding better wages and benefits.
This latest manifestation of worker dissatisfaction is no surprise to us: jobs are bad and getting worse. A universal benefit like paid family and medical leave could make every job better.
The U.S. is the only wealthy nation, and one of just six nations in the world, that does not offer some form of guaranteed paid family or medical leave. Family leave is essential to improve health outcomes for both parents and infants by ensuring parents have time to bond with a new child and can seek timely medical services for preventative and critical health needs for themselves and their children. Paid medical leave helps workers to address their own serious illness and ensures workers don’t have to choose between their health or the health of a loved one and economic stability.
Forty-four percent of Americans are stuck in what are considered low-wage jobs, earning a median income of just $10.22 per hour or approximately $24,000 per year. Sixteen percent of workers earn wages at or below the federal poverty level. For millions of workers who are just making ends meet and lack paid leave, taking time to care for themselves or for a loved one can lead to economic hardship, job loss, increased debt, and food insecurity.
Currently, just 1 in 4 of all workers have access to paid leave. Among the lowest wage workers — who are disproportionately women of color due to historical barriers, discriminatory hiring practices and racism in the job market — less than 10 percent have access to leave. Black and Latino workers are more likely than white workers to report they needed to take family or medical leave but can’t, primarily because they can’t afford to miss a paycheck.
It is incomprehensible that two years into a global pandemic, which has upended our lives and livelihoods, shuttered schools and child care centers, infected 50 million, and killed more than 788,000, the vast majority of Americans do not have access to paid family and medical leave. If COVID has made one thing crystal clear, it is this: everyone at some point in their lives will need to either give or receive care.
Paid leave is one piece of the puzzle to improve job quality, increase job satisfaction, and get workers back into the workplace safely. A survey from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that 37 percent of unemployed Americans said they would return to work sooner if their employer offered paid family leave. Among the public at large, paid leave is extremely popular. A recent poll of battleground states found that 80 percent of voters support paid leave for workers with a serious illness, and 72 percent support paid leave for workers caring for a new child.
Workers desperately need better jobs — jobs that offer living wages, stable schedules, full-time employment, and benefits like paid leave. American workers have spoken, it’s time for Congress to listen.
Emily Andrews and Nat Baldino both work on the education, labor & worker justice team at the Center for Law and Social Policy.
