Faith Community Praises Rubio’s New Family Leave Proposal

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, is proposing a new measure that offers paid family leave in exchange for Social Security benefits.

Under his plan, called the Economic Security for New Parents Act, expectant parents could apply to the Social Security Administration and receive at least two months of paid leave.

In return, families would see a three-to-six-month delay in their Social Security benefits later in life.

“The benefit amount is large enough that nearly all parents making below median family income of about $70,000 will be able to take two months’ leave at over 70 percent of their wages,” Rubio’s office told News Talk Florida.

Faith-based organizations are praising the move.

“The Christian faith believes work and family should complement each other,” Katelyn Beaty, of the Christian nonprofit Center for Public Justice, told Deseret News.

She and her colleague, Rachel Anderson, are co-authors of a new report, “Time to Flourish,” which touts the merits of more affordable, family-centric policies like the one proposed by Rubio.

The report notes that currently, “a worker earning a median income in America would forgo more than $13,000 in wages in order to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for an infant or sick family member.” {eoa}

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