The dark side of paid parental leave

Paid parental leave isn't an unadulterated good. There's a real downside.

Family.
(Image credit: Image Source / Alamy Stock Photo)

Democrats, progressives, and even some reform-minded conservatives have slammed President Trump's new budget as a cruel, math-challenged non-starter. But that doesn't mean they can't praise the odd, non-terrible, non-embarrassing parts.

For instance: Trump is the first Republican president to offer a national paid leave plan, a result of daughter Ivanka's insistence. Now, no one is going to accuse the president of mindlessly or gleefully copying what other advanced economies do for families. In Sweden, for example, parents get up to 16 months of paid leave, with moms and dads each required to take at least three months off.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
James Pethokoukis

James Pethokoukis is the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he runs the AEIdeas blog. He has also written for The New York Times, National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and other places.