With every other developed country except the United States guaranteeing workers paid leave, the feasibility of paid leave has been well-tested across the world. But nevertheless, there still remains an underlying fear that it’ll somehow be bad for businesses in this country.

Failing to provide paid leave has especially devastating consequences for people of color that compound and exacerbate deep-seated and longstanding discrimination, institutionalized racism and vast income and wealth disparities.

Before I became a parent, it never once registered that “paid leave” was about so much more than new parenthood.

“You shouldn’t have to rely on the generosity of your co-workers to meet the needs of your family and protect your job,” [Tiffany Joekel, policy and research director for the Women’s Fund of Omaha] said.

Researchers say Hoosiers are ready for a government program that ensures all workers have access to paid family and medical leave.

“I think as a country we value hard work, supporting our family and being there for them, yet the policies to do both are not there,” Vasu Reddy, senior policy counsel for workplace programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, said.

The [American Enterprise Institute/Brookings Institution] working group’s shortcoming is especially disappointing because there are so few issues today upon which policymakers on both sides of the political aisle in Washington can agree. Paid family leave to care for a seriously ill loved one should be among them.

It’s been 25 years since the Family and Medical Leave Act was approved by the federal government, and in the years since then, half of the states haven’t moved beyond the basics related to protection of unpaid leave.

Some seniors are still participating in the workforce, and have no support in the event of serious illness or injury. Others are themselves caregivers for their family members. But all seniors would benefit from paid leave one way or the other.

“Family leave may not be seen a dominant issue in this election cycle but it certainly is very salient to the substantial number of voters that struggle with providing care to family members,” said Chris Borick, a professor of political science at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.

While preparing to welcome our second child, Karter, my family faced a difficult choice. I could keep my job, earning barely enough to get by and missing out on critical time to nurture my baby, or I could stay home with him, giving up my job to live in poverty.

[M]any employers aren’t making it easy for [women] with their limited family leave policies, rigid cultures and business models that, in practice, often really don’t support working parents.

Donating sick and vacation days may seem like a thoughtful way to have a colleague’s back, but it’s also a spotlight on a gaping need to fix an utterly broken system.

Rather than further stressing our retirement system, a paid leave plan that is supported with very modest payroll contributions would ensure that American families have access to paid leave when they need it without compromising their ability to retire on time.

[New father Charlie] Camosy’s support for paid family leave doesn’t stem only from his positive personal experience. He feels called to advocate for it because of his Catholic faith, which teaches that both work and parenthood are important pursuits.

The absence of a paid family and medical leave policy in the United States is hurting my employees and my business. It doesn’t have to be this way, however, because a plan to solve this problem has been on the table for years – only Congress declined to act on it.

A paid leave policy designed to support workers who suddenly find themselves managing a crisis like this – not just the anticipated time off needed for childbirth, but also the sudden care need presented by a diagnosis of cancer, stroke, or even a happy but sudden adoption notification – would be a policy designed for robust voter support. Not everyone will plan to give birth, but who among us can say that we will never face an unexpected health crisis in our own family?

A prominent Christian think tank has come out fiercely in favor of better family leave policies, defending federally mandated family leave policies on theological grounds.

The “fake” paid family leave option, restricts participation to only maternity leave and diverts social security funds to pay for the program. […] For most Black women, social security makes up at least half of their income stream during retirement, according to the 2014 Black Women in the United States report by the Black Women’s Roundtable.

[Rhode Island state senator Gayle Goldin] says Rhode Island’s program has won over small business owners who were initially opposed, and has become a selling point for companies recruiting staff to work there. “It’s important not only because they [employees] think they’ll need the leave, but also about the values of the state…. It sets the tone for workplace culture,” she says.