Dayton Announces First-Ever Paid Parental Leave Policy
Benefits of Paid Parental Leave
In addition to being a good policy for both employers and employees, paid parental leave also has numerous benefits to individuals and communities. As Innovation Ohio outlined in a report earlier this year, the availability of paid parental leave means that low-wage workers are less inclined to drop out of the workforce and on to public assistance. This not only reduces gender and economic disparities, but it strengthens regional economies. Paid parental leave can also improve critical health outcomes like immunization and infant mortality. A review of global data found that increases in access to paid leave was associated with 22 to 25 percent higher rates of immunization for DPT3, Measles and Polio. Studies from 18 of the world’s largest market-based democracies also found that access to paid leave has decreased in deaths in the first month of life by 2.6 percent and in the first year of life of life by 4.1 percent! We are encouraged that Mayor Whaley and the city of Dayton are leading by example on this important policy. We hope other employers and communities throughout Ohio will follow suit.Senator Portman Must Reconsider ‘Yes’ Vote on TPP Fast Track
IO Analysis: The Benefits of Paid Parental Leave
Research Highlights
Paid parental leave policies have many benefits for women, families, employers and society as a whole. Among them include:Strengthens Women and Families
- The majority of young children depend on the income of working mothers, who are increasingly likely to be sole or primary breadwinners in their families. Paid maternity and paternity leave policies preserve income and increase health outcomes for women and their dependent children.
Reduces Gender and Economic Disparities
- When taking leave without pay is the only option for a new parent, unmarried, nonwhite and less educated parents are the least likely to make use of this benefit. This relatively low level of leave-taking by less advantaged workers can create health and economic disparities for parents and children.
Improves Critical Health Outcomes
- Longer leaves that result from the availability of paid time off have been shown to improve the health prospects of women and their babies. Rates of infant mortality, immunization and breastfeeding have all been seen to improve when women have access to paid leave during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Positive Impacts on the Local Economy
- Paid leave policies for mothers and fathers increase the level of women’s employment and participation in the regional workforce, and contribute to higher levels of employment rates and wages for mothers in the years following childbirth. And by preserving family income, these policies also reduce demand for public assistance and social services.
A Stronger, More Productive Workforce
- Paid leave policies have numerous benefits for local employers by improving employee retention, job satisfaction, and productivity and helping employers compete for top talent.
Minimum Wage Proposal Would Help Ohio Women and Families
Budget Update: Chipping Away
- Several provisions still in the budget will likely lead to more privatization and reduced working standards for important services like protecting senior citizens from abuse and neglect. Additional changes also deny some workers’ rights to employees at community-based correctional facilities.
- Another provision in the budget would end the long-standing option of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), which protects taxpayers and strengthens local economies.
- PLAs ensure that the terms and conditions of public construction projects are not substandard and the wages are fair. They also help make sure that the work is done efficiently and effectively by doing such things as preventing strikes and requiring a higher degree of quality control.
- Ending of this practice would likely reduce wages for working Ohioans and increase the risk of shoddy work on public construction projects.
- When workers have fewer opportunities to bargain for the safety and effectiveness of their work, as well as the fairness of their wages, the economy suffers and the middle class shrinks.
Take Action to Support Paid Family Leave
State of the State in Wilmington
Research Overview
Gov. John Kasich has made Wilmington the site of his fifth State of the State address and has described Wilmington’s story of economic recovery as Ohio’s story of economic recovery. While unemployment in Wilmington has dropped, it is important to look more closely at the local economic picture and how recent state policies have impacted this quintessential Ohio community. Read the full analysis: A Closer Look at How State Policies are Impacting WilmingtonThe Kasich Economy: 4 Facts All Ohioans Need to Know
As Governor Kasich continues to insist that he and his allies have engineered an ‘Ohio comeback,” there are four facts all Ohioans need to know.
Fact # 1: Ohio lags the rest of America in job creation. Governor Kasich often boasts that Ohio has more jobs now than when Governor Strickland was in office. But since virtually every state has more jobs now than it did during the nation’s “Great Recession”, the real question is how Ohio compares to the rest of the country. Ohio not only ranks 41st among all the states in job creation, but has lagged the national average for 20 straight months. And, unlike the rest of America – which has recovered all the jobs lost during the recession and then some, Ohio is still roughly 140,000 jobs short of where we were in 2007 before the national downturn began.
Fact # 2: Virtually all the jobs created under Kasich have been low-wage. Although Kasich promised that his privatized development agency, JobsOhio, would move “at the speed of business” to create good-paying jobs in the economy of tomorrow, virtually none of the jobs created during his administration pay enough to support a family. An August 20 analysis by Innovation Ohio found that Ohio’s economy now has more people working in low-paying jobs than in occupations that pay medium or high wages. And an August 31 study by the Cleveland-based think tank Policy Matters-Ohio found that in 2013, Ohio’s median wage was just $15.81 per hour, 90 cents below the national median wage.
Fact # 3: Under Kasich, median income has fallen by $9,000 per household. An August Associated Press analysis found that Ohio’s real (adjusted for inflation) median household income fell from $54,000 in 2007 to $45,000 in 2012 – a far steeper drop than for the nation as a whole. The AP study also found that nearly 50% of Ohio households are now living paycheck-to-paycheck, and 16% of Ohioans have fallen into poverty.
Fact # 4: The benefits from Kasich’s income tax cuts have overwhelmingly gone to the wealthy. Under the three income tax cuts that have taken effect since Kasich assumed office (including the “final installment” of the 2005 income tax cut that Strickland postponed during the Great Recession), the richest 1% has, on average, enjoyed an annual tax cut of $10,000. Middle-income Ohioans have received less than $100, and the poorest Ohioans have seen a slight tax increase, thanks to the higher sales and property taxes enacted under Gov. Kasich. This does not include the lower inheritance taxes now paid by the wealthy due to Kasich’s repeal of Ohio’s estate tax. The estate tax applied to only the richest 7% of Ohioans.
For most Ohioans, Governor Kasich’s so-called ‘Ohio Miracle’ has been a mirage. We’re creating fewer jobs than most other states, the ones we’re creating don’t pay a living wage, and the Governor’s income tax cuts have only served to exacerbate the growing gap between the rich and the rest. Surely our state can do better. [Read more…]
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