Edwards announces paid family leave plan

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Source: ap


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071113/ap_on_el_pr/edwards... ;_ylt=AnxB5kPhuG7nFxbYGn0RLsIGw_IE

Edwards announces paid family leave plan


By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 16 minutes ago



CONCORD, N.H. - When it comes to helping parents take time off from work, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is raising the stakes.




The former North Carolina senator on Tuesday will propose spending $2 billion a year to help states create family leave programs that offer workers at least eight weeks of paid time off to care for a newborn or ill family member. The proposal is similar to those offered by his rivals, but Edwards would put up more money — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's plan calls for $1 billion a year; Illinois Sen. Barack Obama proposes $1.5 billion.

Edwards also would set a national goal of eight weeks of paid leave for all by 2014.

"Only 8 percent of American workers have access to paid family leave," he said in remarks prepared for delivery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. "The vast majority of countries in the world offer paid leave — it is long past the time that America made sure that paid leave is there for every worker."



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