Rep. DeLauro Issues Statement on New Paid Leave Research

WASHINGTON, April 19 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, ranking member of the Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies and author of the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (H.R. 947), issued the following statement in response to new research conducted by researchers at the Urban Institute on the impact of using social security to fund a paid leave plan:

"New research from the Urban Institute reaffirms that using social security benefits in order to spend time with a newborn child would jeopardize workers' future retirement security. Any such proposal would break the promise of Social Security, which provides millions of Americans with economic security in their retirement."

"Instead of raiding Social Security, Congress should work to enact the FAMILY Act, which would ensure that workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for a pregnancy, the birth or adoption of a child, to recover from a serious illness, or to care for a seriously ill family member.

"The time for paid family and medical leave is long overdue and we will keep fighting until no American worker has to choose between sacrificing a paycheck or their earned social security benefits and caring for their family during the toughest times."

Researchers at the Urban Institute found that using social security benefits to provide 12 weeks of paid leave for parents would reduce their monthly benefits by about 3 percent. Such a program would worsen Social Security finances through the 75 year projection period, likely increasing Social Security annual net costs.

The full report can be found here (https://www.urban.org/research/publication/paying-parental-leave-future-social-security-benefits/view/full_report).