The Family Gap

Presidential candidates and other politicians from both major parties are proclaiming their concern this year with helping the American family. But, as Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) points out, there is nonetheless a huge “family gap.” Congress seems to feel no urgency about grappling with two questions that are of daily concern to millions of voters--getting time off to be with a newborn or sick child and finding decent day care.

The Family and Medical Leave Act is ready for consideration by the full House of Representatives. This legislation would allow parents to take as much as 10 unpaid weeks off after the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for a seriously ill child or parent, and return to the same job or an equivalent one. Employees could also take 15 weeks of unpaid leave to recuperate from a serious illness themselves. The measure would cover only employers with more than 50 workers.

The opposition complains that businesses would have to spend too much money on temporary replacements for workers on leave. It strikes us that whatever money they did have to spend would be buying long-term worker satisfaction; when more experienced workers hold onto jobs because they are happy where they work, fewer new people must be trained, and productivity remains high.

Despite the merits of the legislation, it languishes, as does the major child-care bill proposed by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep.Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.), not to mention a more modest measure by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn). The Hatch-Johnson bill would provide tax incentives to encourage employers to establish child-care facilities, and would give states grants to subsidize day care for low-income people. It does not have the vast scope of the Dodd-Kildee bill, but it also doesn’t have that bill’s $2.5-billion price tag.

Those costs are indeed large, but so is the task that the broader bill sets for itself. This measure would put most of its money into subsidies to help low- and moderate-income people pay for day care. It also would finance training programs for child-care workers and provide grants to help child-care centers and home-care programs meet safety requirements and other regulations. The bill also would require states to review and strengthen licensing laws.

Child care is essential to the working poor. As a House committee found recently, 35% more two parent families would live in poverty if the wives were not employed.

The scope of federal involvement in child care threatens to be the next battleground in the country’s continuing ideological battles that swirl around the family. Congress could head off that unfortunate development by acting decisively. Instead of making promises and kissing babies,the politicians should help close the family gapby passing these bills to help American parents.