The reality is that the overwhelming majority of women are working and they're going to be part of the labor force for a long time. While they may choose to take time off, they're doing things that women in '60s weren't doing.
If you keep tax cuts for the wealthiest, it won't stimulate the economy, but it will add to the deficit. And, really, what we have to be focused on right now is what economists would call the opportunity costs.
All of us were born at some point, and at some point, unfortunately, most people get sick or need to care for a loved one who is sick. I mean, that's just acknowledging the reality of how we have to have labor market policies that allow people to have families, which is why we work in the first place. We have to have policies that allow us to be able to focus on our jobs and be highly productive employees. You need to be able to have policies that allow us to adjudicate between those two.
The important thing right now is that the economy still needs customers. We still need people to go out there and spend money.
Some good employers provide people benefits. Many do not. The ones that do not tend to be the low end of the pay scale. This program will give those employers a way to support their employees. The employees will get this benefit, making it more likely that their employee will come back to them - that's a benefit for the employer over the long term and a benefit for the employee and all the while supporting families in their time of need.
One, as an employer you already have a management problem when your employee has a new child or needs to care for their ailing family member. You've got to replace the person, at least temporarily; it's a tremendous pain to hire somebody new.
