Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu, 4th District, and Councilwoman Nury Martinez, 6th District, introduced a motion for a Paid Parental Leave Ordinance, as well as a study of the potential impacts the policy might have on small businesses and nonprofit organizations, among others.

The motion introduced by Ryu and Martinez seeks to address the gap between the full salary and the state policy that provides 60-70 percent of eligible employees’ weekly wages. (photo courtesy of the Council District 4 office)

“For too many Los Angeles families, raising a child and paying the bills is becoming an impossible choice,” Ryu said. “Families should not have to choose between parenting and a paycheck. Parenthood is not a liability, but an asset to our society, and should be treated as such. A parental leave policy would mean more time for families to spend together, more retention of workers for businesses, and a more equitable and just Los Angeles.”

California’s paid parental leave policy provides eligible employees 60-70 percent of their weekly wages, depending on income, for up to 18 weeks of combined prepartum care, postpartum care and bonding time with a newborn, adopted or foster child. The motion asks the city attorney to report back with potential options on a paid parental leave ordinance that would require employers in the city of Los Angeles to make up the difference between the employee’s existing State Disability Insurance or paid parental leave benefits and the employee’s normal gross weekly wages for up to 18 weeks.

Paid parental leave, allowing more working parents to spend time with their children in the crucial early years of life, has positive benefits for the child, parent, employer and the overall economy. The first years of life are recognized as a critical period for children, seeing rapid rates of brain and nervous system development, as well as crucial social bonding time with caregivers.

Parental leave policies are also associated with a 3 to 4 percent increase in employment to population ratios, decreased unemployment, a significant increase in women’s participation in the labor force, and a greater degree of parity between the growth of male and female salaries.

However, many parents eligible for partial paid parental leave decline to take it, citing a reduction in pay as the key reason. A 2011 survey conducted by the Center for Economic Policy Research found that a third of Californians who were eligible but did not apply for paid parental leave cited that the pay would be too low, and nearly half of new parents who make less than $30,000 annually who did not have fully paid parental leave had to apply for public assistance.