Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Family and Medical Leave Act as Retrenchment Policy |
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| Authors: | STEVEN K. WISENSALE |
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| Affiliation: | Steven K. Wisensale is Professor of Public Policy in the School of Family Studies at the University of Connecticut. His research and teaching interests are in social welfare policy, with a particular focus on family policy. He has published extensively in major professional journals and is the author of a recent book, Family Leave Policy: The Political Economy of Work and Family in America (M.E. Sharpe 2001). |
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| Abstract: | abstract This article discusses recent efforts by states to adopt paid family leave since the original passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993. In proposing their legislation, 21 of 26 states dropped the family component of the original law and, instead, reduced coverage to baby care or parental leave. I explore the potential policy implications of what appears to be a retrenchment of the FMLA, as it shifts from an emphasis on family (including care of elderly parents) to parental (baby care only). This discussion is particularly important in light of a growing aging population that will demand greater assistance from family caregivers who will most likely be in the workforce and in need of benefits such as family leave. |
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