Meghan Markle has joined activists asking Congress to provide paid leave for all Americans and put “families above politics.”
The letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asks Congress to enact a comprehensive paid leave act that would cover not just parents, but also caregivers and individuals who need financial assistance for temporary leave from jobs.
This type of family leave isn’t rare across the globe. Hundred of countries offer subsidized family leave; the United States is one of only two (the other is Papua New Guinea) that don’t have a national maternity leave policy. In the case of the U.S., these policies are left up to states and employers, which doesn’t seem to be working very well. Only 21 percent of U.S. workers have access to any paid family leave, the BBC reports.
“No family should have to choose between earning a living and having the freedom to take care of their child…”
Reflecting on the economic struggles of most Americans, the Duchess of Sussex’s letter is a personal recounting of her experiences growing up without financial stability as a young child, an admonishment of current U.S. policy, and a reflection on her current privileges as royal-adjacent.
“In June, my husband and I welcomed our second child. Like any parents, we were overjoyed. Like many parents, we were overwhelmed. Like fewer parents, we weren’t confronted with the harsh reality of either spending those first few critical months with our baby or going back to work,” she wrote.
Now, she’s using her position of power and privilege to amplify the voices of Americans in need, she writes.
The Duchess of Sussex is also putting a spotlight on advocacy groups, including Paid Leave for All, a campaign by policy experts, health professionals, employers, and other advocates demanding an inclusive, federal-paid family and medical leave program by 2023.
Lack of access to federally-mandated paid leave has repercussions beyond basic parental needs. According to the Center for American Progress, the United States’ lack of national policy has disproportionately affected communities of color and low-income workers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Black and Hispanic workers are less likely than white employees to have access to paid leave, and only 8 percent of low-wage workers had the option of family or medical leave in 2020.
Speaker Pelosi has expressed her support for a comprehensive paid leave policy. “My friends, this is about family. It’s about children. It’s about time. It’s about time that we get all of this done,” she said at a Paid Leave for All event earlier this year. Congress is currently negotiating a social safety net bill that would include provisions for a national paid family leave of just four weeks, and universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. While members of Congress debate removing some of the social provisions, including two years of free community college and a renewable energy program for utility companies, the addition of paid family leave has remained untouched.
The Duchess of Sussex’s letter and the Paid Leave for All campaign push for a paid leave option that provides a sense of security for all Americans, from parents to caregivers to individuals struggling by themselves. Markle writes that such a policy is what’s needed to make the United States as “exceptional” as it claims to be: “People in our country work incredibly hard, and yet the ask is soft: for a level playing field to achieve their version of a common dream—what is fair, and equal, and right.”