On Friday, September 16th, 2022, 337 organizations across California signed on to this Children’s Movement letter urging Governor Newsom to expand family leave benefits for all Californians.
The Children’s Movement joined the California Work and Family Coalition – a coalition of gender equity, child and maternal health and anti-poverty groups – in pushing for the signing of Senate Bill 951 (SB 951) authored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo. Two weeks later, on Friday, September 30th, Governor Newsom signed the bill. This is a great win for children and families in California.
California’s State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) were designed to ensure that all Californians could afford to take leave for these reasons, however, because SDI and PFL have historically provided benefits equal to only 60 percent of most workers’ wages, these benefits have been unaffordable for too many of California’s families.
Recent analysis show that low-wage workers who are most in need of paid family leave can’t afford to take time off. Yet the passage of SB 951 will increase wage replacement rates and make paid family leave benefits more equitable and accessible to more Californians.
Effective January 1, 2025, SB 951 increases wage replacement rates to 90 percent for low wage workers (individuals making roughly $57k or less annually) and to 70 percent for everyone else. These changes will allow parents and caregivers more access to critical bonding time with their loved ones in their times of need. This is also a racial and gender justice issue as women, those identifying as Black or Latino/a/x, and/or those born outside of the United States are more likely to hold lower wage jobs.
Read more, here.
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