Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

  • 2022 Ohio Election Hub
  • About Us
    • Our Mission & Role
    • Our Team
    • Job Opportunities
  • Our Work
    • 2022 Ohio Election Hub
  • The Latest
    • Updates
    • IO in the News
    • 2022 Ohio Election Hub
    • 2022 Legislative Scorecard: House Representatives
  • Take Action
  • Donate

Dec 13 2019

Ohio has a caregiving crisis — let’s talk about it

A black and white photo of an older woman reaches out to touch a baby
Photo by Paolo Bendandi on Unsplash

Originally published in the Ohio Capitol Journal on December 13, 2019

What do you think of when you hear paid family leave? Much of this week’s news coverage has highlighted policies that help new parents take leave to welcome a new baby. It makes sense. The U.S. remains the only industrialized country not to guarantee new parents paid leave, and, in fact, one in four new moms return to work less than two weeks after giving birth. But the lack of paid parental leave is only one part of the vast caregiving crisis for millions of families in our country.

We all need paid family and medical leave

Nearly every Ohioan will need paid family and medical leave at one point in their life — or more. The need could come following the birth or adoption of a new child, caring for an aging parent who recently had a stroke or has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, or for their own medical crisis like battling cancer. Ohioans face these difficult crises every single day and advocates, like myself, hear from people who are having to choose between receiving the income they need and caring for the family they love. It doesn’t have to be this way.

When it comes to paid family leave, caregiving and personal medical leave are often left out of the conversation. This problem isn’t small. In Ohio, nearly one in four workers are over the age of 55, and in less than 15 years, the share of our state’s population age 65 and older will grow by nearly 40 percent according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Older working people are more likely to experience serious medical conditions that often require unpaid care from their family members. 

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the law that allows many people in the U.S. to take unpaid leave, is used by tens of millions of people each year. Nearly 75 percent of FMLA leave is actually taken to care for a loved one or for peoples’ own injuries and illnesses. 

Why we need paid family and medical leave

Nobody can predict when their mom will have a stroke, if their child will get cancer or if they will suffer a heart attack that requires longer recovery time. But these things happen. And right now, many families are left hanging out on a limb with medical bills piling up, making the impossible choice between having to go to work or caring for the family they love when a crisis hits. Any paid leave policy must include caregiving and personal medical leave. The need is too great.

The appetite for paid family and medical leave is growing on Capitol Hill. Just this week, Washington reached a new bipartisan agreement. The agreement, which is likely to pass, adds a provision that gives federal employees who are new parents 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child. The FAMILY Act, the Democratic flagship paid leave bill in Congress that includes all three types of leave — parental, caregiving, and personal medical — seems to be attracting new cosponsors every week from both sides of the aisle. And Republicans are jumping on the bandwagon, introducing varieties of parental leave-only bills. 

We’ve turned a corner in the paid family and medical leave fight. No longer does it seem a question of if we need a national policy, but a question of when and how. Ohio, the undeniable battleground state and heart of the nation, will play a critical role in defining how this plays out in Congress. Both of our U.S. Senators (Sen. Portman, a Republican, and Sen. Brown, a Democrat) are members of the Senate Finance Committee, which will help shape the policy that goes to the full Congress for a vote. Sens. Portman and Brown need to hear loud and clear that caregiving and personal medical leave must be a part of any paid leave bill because millions of Ohioans need this. 

The policy

My organization, PL+US: Paid Leave for the U.S., recently conducted a report that laid out what a national paid family and medical leave policy would look like if it was designed by doctors and experts based on what families actually need and science tells us. The science is clear, we need policies that give families the flexibility to take up to six months of paid leave for a new child or to care for themselves or a family member.

We also need to make sure these policies support people who really need them, particularly low wage working people who need to make sure that their jobs will be protected and they will get their whole paycheck while they’re caring for family. Funding this policy through a social insurance model, where everyone pays a little so everyone can get the support when they need it is a proven and successful model to follow. Lastly, everyone means everyone, and that must include paid leave for caregiving and personal medical leave.

Everybody deserves to be with their family when it matters without fear of losing their job or their paycheck — whether it’s for a life-changing moment like welcoming a child, to care for a loved one who is critically ill, or to handle their own medical crisis. These are life’s big moments — and they happen to all of us. It’s past time for the U.S. to catch up with the rest of the world and modernize our paid family and medical leave policy to reflect the needs of families throughout Ohio and across the U.S. 

Written by Colleen Craig · Categorized: Paid Leave · Tagged: FAMILY Act, FMLA, Kate McCleese, paid family leave, paid leave, Rob Portman, Sherrod Brown

Jul 22 2019

Something Every New Parent Deserves

By Jennifer Malicoat

A photo of a pregnant Jennifer, her husband Derek, and her son standing alongside a lake.
Photo provided by Jennifer Malicoat

After struggling with infertility for a few years, my husband and I were elated to find out we were pregnant in June of 2016. Our excitement was dimmed a bit as we discussed our time off after the baby arrived and the reality of our maternity and paternity leave options sunk in.

My husband, Derek, and I were both employed by nonprofit organizations, worked hard to put away the savings that we had, and stocked up as much sick and vacation time as possible in hopes that a child would be in our near future. Despite the planning, I was crushed when I learned that I would be unable to take the 12 weeks off after our son arrived that I so desperately wished for and had been planning on taking.

I’ll never forget the day, about halfway through my pregnancy, when my boss entered our office, beaming with news to share with me. She couldn’t wait to tell me about a new agency policy that would go into effect just one month before my son was due: 6 weeks paid maternity and paternity leave. There were tears from both of us as I realized that these 6 weeks, combined with my saved sick and vacation time, would allow for a more adequate time period to heal and bond with my baby!

Being in the early childhood field, I know the importance of those early relationships and the effect those bonds and experiences with caregivers have on brain development. I was thrilled that I would be given the opportunity and time to build that strong foundation right from the beginning, but unfortunately, my experience is not the norm for most new parents.

I returned to my job in a good place mentally and physically, and that allowed me to feel confident as a mother, wife, and employee. And that is something every parent deserves.

Jennifer Malicoat, mother and advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio

At the time, I felt lucky that my husband was able to take two weeks of paid vacation after the birth. With fathers, it is so much more difficult for them to get the time off they deserve, a shortfall of paid parental leave policies that fail to provide adequate and equal time to new dads. When my labor ended in an unplanned C-section, we needed every bit of that time for him to help me recover from surgery as well as care for and bond with our new son, Cooper.

But our experience, combined with currently being pregnant with our second child, has me advocating for better paternal leave for new mothers AND new fathers, like Derek.

A selfie of Jennifer, her husband, and her son.
Photo provided by Jennifer Malicoat

It is still hard for me to believe that next month, I will be having another C-section to welcome our second child into our family, and I only have two weeks of my husband’s help to recuperate before I am on my own for the majority of the day caring for a toddler and newborn. My husband will be back to work before I’m even cleared to drive a car, and we all deserve more than that.

I feel extremely blessed to be in a workplace that supports families with paid leave. The time I was able to spend with Cooper, tending to his needs, watching him grow, and allowing my own body to heal, was incredible.

I returned to my job in a good place mentally and physically, and that allowed me to feel confident as a mother, wife, and employee. And that is something every parent deserves.

This blog post originally appeared on the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network’s website

Written by Colleen Craig · Categorized: Paid Leave · Tagged: cincinnati, employer, Jennifer Malicoat, paid family and medical leave, paid family leave, paid leave, parenthood

Mar 22 2019

All Parents Deserve Access to Paid Family Leave

Photo provided by David Milender

By David Milender

MASON, OHIO – While I was glad to get five days of paid leave for the birth of my son, it was still a frustratingly short amount of time. When my wife, Kaitlin, gave birth to our son, George, one Monday in January 2016, I confirmed with my boss that I would be starting my paid parental leave period that day. The company I worked at the time for allowed five paid days off for new parents.

Welcoming George into the world was a whirlwind experience, and too soon, our family of three were back home from the hospital. The next few days were a blur as we adjusted to life with an infant. My wife had six weeks of reduced pay leave from work through short term disability, but we felt neither of us was allowed nearly enough paid time off with our son.

Back in the office the following Monday, I obsessively checked my phone to make sure George and Kaitlin were doing well. Sitting through monotonous conference calls and in traffic commuting to work felt like a dreadful waste compared to the time I could have been spending with my wife and son. Five days off for the biggest event of our lives was woefully inadequate. 

Photo provided by David Milender

Kaitlin’s leave likewise flew by. Finding a good daycare for our weeks-old son was a harrowing experience, as we had to balance what we could afford with what was safe. While he is a healthy child and the daycare staff had the best intentions, I will never forget the guilt and regret I felt from having to leave my fragile weeks-old son in the care of strangers. 

That spring, my employer updated its employee handbook. I studiously read the new document, and a section on family leave stood out. That afternoon I informed my supervisor that I would like to apply for additional time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as a new parent.

The application process was a learning experience for everyone. My supervisors initially stated that as I was not a new mother, I may not qualify for FMLA leave. After some back and forth over email and consulting the new HR manual and federal regs, they allowed me to apply through our corporate office and humbly apologized, explaining that in all their time overseeing 100+ employees, they had never had a father try to take leave under the FMLA. I was the first one in the office to do so.

My FMLA request was approved, and we disenrolled George from daycare. On my last day in the office before taking leave, another co-worker approached me, explaining that his fiancé was due to give birth soon. Then he asked, “So how do you get them to give you more time off? I thought dads only get a week.” 

The FMLA leave was unpaid, and we had to practice the art of frugality. Fortunately, Kaitlin had a full-time job, and I was able to keep George and I enrolled on my company’s insurance through my leave. Cutting out daycare expenses saved us a small fortune, but I still spent plenty of time cutting coupons and comparing ads while George got in his naps.

Still, we nonetheless depleted my savings.

Regardless of the cost, the twelve weeks I spent with George were amazing. I will never regret taking that time to watch him grow and explore the world around him. Nothing could replace being there when he rolled over for the first time or taking him for walks around the neighborhood in those first warm days of late spring. 

This blog post originally appeared on the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network’s website

Written by Colleen Craig · Categorized: Paid Leave · Tagged: David Milender, fatherhood, Mason, Ohio, ohio women's public policy network, paid family and medical leave, paid family leave, paid leave, parenthood

Stay informed about key issues and bills.

Sign Up

We monitor Ohio politicians to help you hold them accountable.

  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Our Work
  • The Latest
  • IO in the News
  • Take Action
  • Donate
Innovation Ohio

360 S. 3rd Street, 3rd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215
614-220-0150
info@innovationohio.org

© Innovation Ohio 2020