#112 — Universal Paid Family Leave By 2020: Meet One of the Women Pushing for Our Rights

Why is the United States the only developed nation without any guaranteed family leave? How did we fall so far behind Europe, Canada and South America? And who is suffering the brunt of the impact from this lack of policy?

“One in four people {in the US} who give birth go back to work within two weeks. That’s horrendous.” Fabiola Santiago is on a mission with Paid Leave United States (PL+US) to right that wrong and to provide high quality paid family leave for everyone.

Before fighting for this comprehensive leave policy, PL+US had to address several historic blind spots, like: how exactly do we define family to reflect people’s realities and to be more inclusive of “non-traditional” relationships? And how do we expand the type of life events covered in leave policy to accurately serve all types of caretaking and medical needs? And how can we ensure that this type of leave will be universal to all persons in the US?

Today we learn from Fabiola how the current lack of paid leave is most harmful to two groups of already vulnerable populations: women of color and low earners. She shares how our staggering maternal death rate for women of color is exacerbated by a systemic lack of leave and support for new mothers and how low-income earners do not have the flexibility to survive on anything short of full wage replacement.    

PL+US is fighting for a leave policy that:

• is 6 months long;
• includes 100% wage replacement, especially for low earners;
• Includes job protection; and
• Expands the definition of family to meet the realities of all Americans.

On today’s episode, we get to talk with Fabiola Santiago about how PL+US bases their policy on the experiences and moral authority of the populations they most desire to serve and protect, about how current leave policy is really an elite privilege granted to white collar workers, and about the “race to the top” in portions of the private sector to attract top talent with top leave policies.

• Why in order to effectively craft a truly universal family leave we must first acknowledge who has historically fallen through the cracks.
• How the “race to the top” to create top-notch family leave policy in the tech sector is actually serving to increase inequality.
• Why six months is viewed as a crucial amount of leave time, especially for new parent and infant well-being.
• How full wage replacement during leave is crucial for the substantial portion of the US living paycheck to paycheck.
• Who the sandwich generation is and how this will influence the shape of effective leave policies.
• The surprising ways doulas and doctors of color can impact maternal mortality rates and how powerful organizations like “Roots of Labor” are bridging the chasm in how we provide inclusive care for all populations
• Why we need to be thinking “more abundantly” in terms of health outcomes for mothers of color.
• How people in power can most effectively use their position to im