DELAWARE- Work versus family. Paid versus not getting paid. Decisions that are difficult in an emergency or life-changing situation.
The Delaware Cares Coalition for Paid Leave is advocating for a state insurance program that would provide twelve weeks of paid leave for LIFE EVENTS such as a serious medical condition, birth of a child, or caring for a family member.
Executive Director Liz Richards says the pandemic has made its impacts on the state's workforce, especially for female workers. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, women were unemployed at a rate two and a half times higher than the previous year.
"Sadly, this is not new," Richards said. "For too long we have not had an economy that works for working people. When people are being forced to leave their jobs to care for their families, we all lose."
Pastor Idola Batson of Mount Calvary Church in Seaford has encountered people struggling. Workers who are faced with attending to family situations indirectly due to work. Although she is not a partner in the coalition, she praises the message they are pushing across.
"I think it is just appealing to people to know that somebody cares enough for them to let them get back on their feet and provide them with some assets," Batson said. "I think it promotes employee loyalty as well as self-worth."
Banding together to make the lives of workers less stressful during a time of crisis.
For more information and to sign the petition, visit decares.org.