In the News
Letters to the Editor | Elder-care help
The Philadelphia Inquirer (November 8, 2023) - A recent piece in The Inquirer effectively highlighted the heart-wrenching conundrum employees face when they need to take care of an aging parent and go to work. Despite more than half of the U.S. labor force carrying caregiving responsibilities, employees at only about 12% of companies currently have access to any type of elder-care support through their employer…
Congress must enact paid leave for all workers
PennLive (February 22, 2023) - In the midst of COVID-19 and all the challenges that have come with it for working parents, earlier this spring my elderly mom needed a hip replacement. Her pain was so bad she was immobilized, unable to walk or get around on her own…
In the face of divisive politics, paid family leave should remain a bipartisan priority
Fast Company (January 19, 2021) - As a result of the ongoing pandemic, working parents continue to face brutal economic, healthcare, and childcare trade-offs…
Meghan McCain Advocates for Mandatory Family Leave as She Returns to Work After Welcoming Daughter
People (January 4, 2021) - On her first day back at The View after giving birth to daughter Liberty Sage in September, Meghan McCain is advocating for mandatory paid family leave in the U.S…
We know paid family leave saves infant lives — so when will policymakers catch up?
Center for Health Journalism (December 14, 2020) - During a pandemic that has overwhelmed many intensive care units, those that serve our youngest infants have so far been spared from a surge of COVID-19 patients. This is in part due to the apparent low risk of mother-to-baby transmission of this virus. But as a neonatologist, I am increasingly alarmed at how the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare stark failures in American public policy that threaten infants’ health. Chief among these is the lack of a broad-reaching federal policy on paid family leave…
Senator Dan Laughlin, other representatives and speakers discuss the need for the Family Care Act bill to pass
Your Erie (October 14, 2020) - Senator Dan Laughlin and other representatives and speakers had a discussion at Voices for Independence on the need for the Family Care Act Bill to pass…
Gov. Tom Wolf puts spotlight on paid sick leave bills
Philly Burbs (September 2, 2020) - Bills that could give paid sick leave to Pennsylvania workers are getting a renewed push from Gov. Tom Wolf amid the coronavirus pandemic…
American Workers Need Paid Leave, Fast
Intelligencer (July 24, 2020) - At some yet-to-be-determined point in the future, the pandemic will end. Cases will go down, as will the death toll. Public life will resume. But when it does, it probably won’t look much like it did last year…
Families Keep Going, In Pandemic and Health
Christianity Today (July 8, 2020) - Our households are bearing the brunt of COVID-19 shutdowns. It’s time for new levels of creativity, flexibility, and support…
Black Families And Workers Deserve Paid Leave
ESSENCE (June 18, 2020) - Actor and activist Sean Patrick Thomas discusses why paid leave is essential to black families across the country…
Target Joins Companies Changing Their Parental Leave Policies
Motherly (June 17, 2020) - Target announced the expansion of its parental leave and backup childcare options to hourly team members. This is huge because in the corporate world such benefits are often extended to salaried employees but not to part-time retail employees (who really need this, too)…
Bipartisan Lawmakers Continue Advocacy For Paid Family Medical Leave in Pa.
WENY News (June 5th 2020) - Four bipartisan lawmakers in both the Pennsylvania House and Senate are continuing their push to pass legislation establishing a pad family medical leave program in Pennsylvania.
Coronavirus Creates New Worries For People Who Depend On In-Home Care
Disability Scoop (April 28, 2020) - The coronavirus pandemic has forced hard choices on people with disabilities who live independently with the help of workers who come into their homes…
Without Paid Sick Leave, Black People Can’t Stay Home
ESSENCE (March 11, 2020) - Staying home sick is the common advice to limit the spread of Coronavirus and other illnesses. However, that is a luxury many can’t afford to make, especially if you are African-American…
Christian group pushes for paid family leave as Congress considers 3 proposals
The Christian Post (February 24, 2020) - An evangelical advocacy organization is supporting a push in Congress to ensure working families — in the government and private sector — are ensured paid parental and family leave as hope builds that bipartisan legislation will be passed this election year.
Bi-Partisan Group Of Lawmakers Push Bill For 20 Weeks Of 'Paid' Family And Medical Leave
CBS News Pittsburgh (January 30, 2020) - "I struggled, had surgery, struggled to pay bills. Had to come back much sooner than I was supposed to," says Deborah Blackwell of Bellevue…
PA Senate Committee Considers Paid Family Leave Proposal
WENY News (January 28, 2020) - The Senate Labor and Industry Committee is weighing a Bill that would bring paid family medical leave to Pennsylvania workers…
Paid family leave should be available to everybody
PennLive (Jan. 27, 2020) - This week, the Pennsylvania Senate Committee on Labor and Industry will hear testimony on the Family Care Act. As a mother, I know the beauty and bewilderment of new parenthood. Having fostered, I know the wonderful and hard period of welcoming a child into a family.
Most US workers still pay price of no paid parental leave
New York Post (December 23, 2019) - Nancy Glynn could not afford a funeral for her newborn son who died after a premature birth.
She was already taking time off from her job as a waitress in Manchester, New Hampshire, to recover from a C-section. Adding to her difficulties, her husband had an unplanned surgery just two days after the baby died…
Goldman Sachs Joins Growing List of Employers Offering More Paid Parental Leave
Financial Content (November 04, 2019) - Goldman Sachs announced Monday that all new parents at the bank will receive 20 weeks of paid parental leave.
That's an increase from 16 weeks for primary caregivers, and it's more time off than any other Wall Street bank offers…
Reddit cofounder Became an Advocate for Paid Parental Leave Following Daughter’s Birth
Business Insider (October 31, 2019) - When Alexis Ohanian started a paid parental leave policy for his employees at Reddit, he didn't expect to be using it himself — let alone that he would soon become one of the most prominent paternal leave advocates in the US.
Erie’s Senator Laughlin Creates Paid Leave Legislation for PA
Erie News Now (October 8, 2019) - The public today learning more about a plan to set up paid family leave in Pennsylvania.
The legislation sponsored by area State Senator Dan Laughlin.
About two dozen people attending the meeting at the Pennsylvania Soldiers and Sailors Home…
Katy Tury Reflects on Importance of Paid Family Leave
MSNBC (September 11, 2019) - One her first day back from maternity leave, Katy Tur talks about her experience, and about the importance of paid time off when starting a family.
Fathers Still Face A Stigma Around Taking Paid Paternity Leave
Chattanooga Times Free Press (June 14, 2019) - While the 29-year-old and new father watches the final round of the U.S. Open in the living room of his Chattanooga home, he will also be playing with and admiring the six-month-old twins he and his wife, Jourdan, are adopting…
Announcing the Launch of the Family Care Campaign
Press Release (June 6, 2019) - Paid Family Medical Leave in PA to be considered by General Assembly…
These companies are revamping paid parental leave
ABC News (May 26, 2019) - The importance of an adequate paid parental leave policy was made clear for Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian after he encountered struggles becoming a new parent…
North Carolina governor issues paid parental leave order
The San Diego Union-Tribune (May 23, 2019) - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday announced that his state agencies will begin offering employees paid leave for births, a move he says will improve health for mothers and children and reduce inequities in the workplace…
United States Women are Dying from Pregnancy Even a Year After Child’s Birth
HuffPost (May 7, 2019) - “We are the only high-income country in the world without paid maternity leave,” Alison Stuebe, a maternal-fetal medicine physician and the medical director of lactation services at University of North Carolina Health Care, told HuffPost. “Moms covered by pregnancy Medicaid are kicked off 60 days after having a baby. These are decisions we have made as a society.”
Maine Joins States Debating State Provided Paid Family and Medical Leave
Press Herald (April 19, 2019) - A bill to create a state-run insurance program that would allow most Maine workers to take paid family or medical leave drew mixed testimony at a four-hour committee hearing Friday…
Pass paid parental leave: Family-friendly policy is long overdue in U.S.
There should be no stigma about parents taking a paid leave of absence from work to be with their kids.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (March 25, 2019) - High-profile tech/media guru Alexis Ohanian has been making a national mission out of his highly publicized paid paternity leave, courtesy of the company he founded and owns…
Paid Family Leave Gains Momentum In States As Bipartisan Support Grows
NPR (March 5, 2019) - In New Hampshire, there's no requirement that employers offer paid leave to workers who are caring for newborns or taking care of elderly parents.
Wendy Chase campaigned last fall for a seat in the state House promising to change that — and won…
New York Paid Leave Falls Short For Caregivers of Aging Parents
City Limits (February 13, 2019) - Ms.King had noticed something off about her mother for a few weeks. After some protest, in the summer of 2016, King convinced her mother, then 86, to let her drive her to a Doctor’s appointment…
This election season, Pa. voters are looking for leadership on paid leave
PennLive (October 30, 2018) - One year ago - at my son's soccer game - I suddenly lost vision in my left eye. It was like a black curtain had closed across my eye. I was immediately and completely incapacitated…
AARP: Supporting Employed Caregivers with Workplace Leave Policies
AARP Public Policy Institute (September 2018) - As the US population ages, more and more workers bear responsibilities for caring for family members with a serious illness or disability. These family caregiving responsibilities can have a substantial economic impact on workers, and pose a challenge for policy makers and employers to find ways to make the workplace more “caregiver-friendly.”
Cancer Patients Should Not Have to Choose Between Treatment and Work
TIME (October 31, 2017) - I had another scan today.
In the three years since being diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, I’ve lost track of all the tests and treatments I’ve undergone. Lately, besides the six-month scans to make sure I remain in remission, I also deal with the spot checks — a cyst here, an ache there — that require additional follow-up…