5. National Paid Family Leave Is on the Table

Most Americans don’t receive long-term paid leave benefits. According to the current Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) stipulations, you can only benefit from unpaid leave. In other words, eligible employers can take as much as 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.

Biden’s budget proposal tackles this with a line item for paid medical and family leave at the national level. From what we know, the program would be administered by the Social Security Administration and offer partial wage replacement for a maximum of 12 weeks for several reasons, including healing from a serious illness, caring for a seriously ill loved one, caring for a new child, addressing circumstances that come after a loved one’s military deployment, and finding safety from domestic violence, rape, or stalking.