Republicans have been warming to the idea of paid parental leave. What once was another expansion of the federal welfare state is now a popular form of pro-family legislation (and pro-natalism in a country with a declining birth rate).

In 2019, Sens. Joni Ernst and Mike Lee introduced a budget-neutral parental leave plan that would allow new parents to take up to three months of paid leave through Social Security. In essence, parents could take a few months off now in exchange for working a few months extra before retiring.