Amanda Ballantyne

“Access to paid family and medical leave is critical to ensuring a thriving small business sector. Small businesses that do not provide paid leave struggle to retain talented staff, and small business owners themselves need paid leave. They, too, have new babies, ailing partners or parents, and a single accident or medical emergency could jeopardize the health of a small business. But most small businesses simply can’t afford to provide paid leave on their own. A national paid family and medical leave insurance system would make paid leave affordable and accessible to small businesses, helping to level the playing field between Main Street and large corporations, which wield the market power to give good benefits to top managers but are squeezing everyone else with low-wage, uncertain jobs.”