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Families Valued Research and Reports

Leadership Council Announces Common Ground Proposal For Paid Family Leave

The U.S. remains one of the world’s few industrialized nations without guaranteed paid family leave. Partisan approaches to enacting paid leave have, so far, had little success in changing this fact.

CPJ’s Families Valued program recently convened a leadership council to examine approaches to paid family leave that reach past traditional categories of right and left.

Representing diverse Christian traditions, denominations and political orientations, council members agreed on the importance of supporting those entrusted with the responsibility to care for those who are vulnerable in our society. Together, they concluded that a common ground approach to paid family leave, rooted in Christian values, should:

  • Ensure universal minimum benefits
  • Prioritize those who are vulnerable
  • Support diverse cultural conceptions of kin
  • Operate with administrative simplicity

Policymakers can move toward this vision by establishing a universal benefit for new parents and end-of-life caregivers, and by guaranteeing all workers at least two weeks of annual paid leave for meeting health and caregiving needs.

Research: Voices from the Pandemic Workplace

The COVID-19 pandemic confronted American workplaces with a host of health, human resource, and logistical challenges. Even with private and public measurements in place, employers still struggled to balance public health, worker well-being, and organizational survival.

In partnership with DataWise Consulting (formerly Calvin University Center for Social Research), the Center for Public Justice sought out employer and employee accounts about work during COVID-19. The research uncovers perspectives on employers’ response and resourcefulness, employees’ struggles with accessing benefits, varying employer awareness of family responsibilities, and the significance of mental health in the workplace.

Click the link below to read the full research brief and gain a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape and the path forward.

Read the Executive Summary

Read the Full Proposal

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