Brief How Much Would Senator Rubio’s Paid Leave Program Help New Parents
Richard W. Johnson, Melissa M. Favreault
Display Date
File
File
Download Report
(250.99 KB)

To expand parental leave options, Senator Marco Rubio (R–FL) introduced legislation this month that would allow new parents to trade part of their future Social Security retirement benefits for paid leave. Simulations from the Dynamic Simulation of Income Model (DYNASIM) show that a paid leave benefit equal to 300 percent of a monthly Social Security disability benefit would typically replace about 80 percent of pre-tax earnings for parents who leave work for two months. For each two-month paid leave, the program would raise Social Security’s full retirement age by about six months, reducing average lifetime retirement benefits by 3 percent.

Research Areas Wealth and financial well-being Aging and retirement Families Taxes and budgets
Tags Social Security Retirement Parenting Work-family balance Federal budget and economy Retirement policy Family and medical leave Paid leave
Policy Centers Income and Benefits Policy Center