Podcast: California’s Model for Paid Maternity and Paternity Leave

In 2004, California enacted the nation’s first paid family leave program, which enables parents to take up to six weeks off to bond with a new child and still receive a paycheck for that period. The program is part of the state’s disability insurance system and funded through an employee payroll tax so employers are not paying for their employees’ time off.  (It also allows parents to take time off to care for a sick spouse, child or registered domestic partner.) 

Now that the program has been up and running for several years, do we have evidence that it’s working? Can it serve as a model for changes at the federal level and in other states?

For this podcast, New America’s David Gray talks with Ann O’Leary, executive director of the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS), who reflects on many of the program’s positive results.

Early Ed Watch podcast – July 26, 2010

California’s Model for Paid Maternity and Paternity Leave

With our guest Ann O’Leary, executive director of the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security

Interviewed by David Gray, director of the Workforce and Family Program here at New America

 See also the webcast from New America’s recent event, Work Life Balance: Finding the Balance on Paid Leave