OPINION: Paid parental leave
By Lori Sturdevant, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Coleman, his chief of staff says, was acting as a concerned manager of a 2,850-person workforce that's seeing an increase in retirements and a growing need to attract and keep younger workers.
Increasingly,
That's thinking like a smart boss, not a feminist crusader. But here in the crusader's corner, I'm cheering the parenting leave line in Coleman's budget. It's one of several recent developments that has me believing that the unfinished agenda of the 20th century women's movement is poised to advance in the 21st.
Contemplating that agenda is a timely mental exercise for
But signs of late say change is coming. The enactment of the Women's Economic Security Act by the 2014 Legislature is one. Among other things, it expanded the state-required, job-protected -- but unpaid -- parental leave for larger employers from six to 12 weeks. The revival of the Equal Rights Amendment, due for a fresh push at a
Three states --
Three major U.S. cities --
In
Dady said that while reaction to the proposal has been "overwhelmingly positive," she has heard "a little bit of feedback about cost. I tell people, there's a cost to losing employees, too. Rehiring and retraining workers is expensive. If we can offer a benefit that will keep young people in the workforce, I think we'll come out ahead."
But the best news for society in that study is that
"There's been a generational shift," said
She pointed to a
In
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