The Mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., Lenny Curry, just announced he would be offering the city’s employees six weeks of paid parental leave. Curry proposed the addition of paid parental leave last year to the City Council, through bargaining negotiations. The proposal is part of labor contracts and should be approved and started by Oct. 1. “It’s really important that moms and dads have that time to help each other, to bond with the newborn, and we value that in the city of Jacksonville,” a local news source reported. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., praised the decision.
Only three states require paid parental leave: Rhode Island, California, and New Jersey. This development in Florida is exceptional because the mayor has found a way to offer it to his employees, without being forced to, and in a way that doesn’t cost taxpayers additional funds.
Curry said pay for city employees is already factored into the city’s budget, so it won’t require a budget increase to finance the benefit. It’s unclear when this was factored in or if other unnecessary items were trimmed to fit the city’s current budget.
Paid parental leave is a controversial topic, particularly among conservatives, who are usually against it, because politicians usually want a state to force employers to offer it or raise taxes to pay for it. Last month, Rubio rolled out legislation to create a paid parental leave benefit — he’s one of the few Republicans in support of it. His bill would “allow new parents to receive early Social Security benefits to use for paid leave, in exchange for delaying the collection of Social Security benefits by about three to six months when they retire.”
On this issue, the United States tends to lag behind other countries.This infographic shows when it comes to both maternal and paternal leaves the United Kingdom leads the way. The U.K. offers both leave for 280 days at 90 percent pay, with Saudi Arabia, coming in dead last, with 70 days at 50 percent pay. Less than 20 percent of Saudi Arabia’s workforce is women compared to 47 percent in the United States, so that context is relevant.
As a mother of four children, paid parental leave would have been helpful when my children were babies. Nurturing a newborn can be stressful enough. An effort like this which would relieve, at least temporarily, the stress of work and finances, could be a huge boon to growing families. The important thing is not to force an organization to offer it (then everyone suffers) or to raise taxes to make this possible either. Admittedly, this makes paid parental leave difficult, but it can be done if it works as income replacement insurance employees fund at minimal cost — which is sort of what Rubio proposed.
I applaud Curry’s efforts to help his employees with a work-life balance that relieves stress and makes for happier employees. The fact that he did it freely and unencumbered, at no extra cost to taxpayers, is a huge bonus. The mayor will likely find his employees are happier while adjusting to a new baby and appreciate the stress relief of paid parental leave.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
