Outrageous. Unacceptable. Cruel. Terrifying. The U.S. Congress failed to fully and comprehensively extend emergency pandemic paid leave before it expires on Dec. 31st leaving more than 31 million workers, including 15 million working moms, without the security of guaranteed access to paid leave just as the virus is surging and schools and childcare providers are closing.
A new Congress will take office in early January and they MUST act immediately to extend and expand emergency paid leave. Emergency paid leave has been proven to prevent more than 15,000 new COVID cases per day. It has prevented countless evictions, hospitalizations, hungry children, and sleepless nights and is supported by small business owners who say the paid leave has helped them keep their workers in jobs.
Take action today to tell your members of Congress to immediately extend and expand emergency paid leave.
Dear Members of 117th Congress:
It is abhorrent and irresponsible that the US Congress, in the last session, failed to extend emergency paid leave before the 12/31 deadline. Families are now left without one of the most important tools we had for reducing the spread of COVID-19, emergency paid leave despite the fact that emergency leave benefits have been a huge and indisputable win for the country.
Emergency paid leave is linked to a reduction in the spread of COVID-19 by as much as 400 reported cases per day where people are able to use the leave. Failure to extend this benefit means that 31 million parents lost access to paid child care leave at the same time the virus is surging and many schools are operating virtually. It means that 12.4 million parents of color -- including 2.9 million Black parents, 6.8 million Latinx parents, and 1.9 million Asian parents -- lost access to paid leave, further stressing communities of color, which have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
This new Congress must act immediately to extend and expand emergency paid leave. Lives are on the line.
[your comment here]
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
