Ivanka Trump-Backed Family Leave Plan Asks You to Choose Between Your Child and Retirement

Rather than requiring that employers or taxes fund family leave, Marco Rubio and Ivanka Trump are arguing that it should be your future self who pays the price.

August 5, 2018

On a surface level, Senator Marco Rubio's family leave plan, which was introduced in the Senate on Thursday, demonstrates much needed social progress as the United States is the only industrialized nation without universal paid family leave legislation. However, once the details of the proposal are further examined, it appears as though Rubio's brainchild is requiring that mothers and fathers only take leave if they borrow the funds from their Social Security retirement. Essentially, it's asking parents to choose between retiring on time with the compensation they've earned, or staying home to care for their newborn child.

"There's nothing we can do for our children that's better than allowing their parents to spend more time and be more involved in their lives, especially from their early days," Marco Rubio said during an interview. The allowance Rubio is referring to, is a trade-off, and one that provides the Republican party with a credit they can then use to claim they care about women. While receiving lower Social Security benefits, the bill would also possibly cause those who borrow time to push off retirement for up to a year. It embodies the essence of the Republican party in that in order to reap benefits, you must pay for them yourself, instead of, you know, the companies you're taking leave from.

Ivanka Trump has been one of the biggest supporters of Senator Rubio and a Republican-backed family leave incentive. Yes, this is the same Ivanka who chose to blindly post a photo of herself with her child shortly after her father forcefully separated children from their parents at the border. Following the proposal's release, the president's daughter tweeted: "It’s encouraging to see Republicans embracing Paid Family Leave policy & putting forward legislation. Congress has come a LONG way on this issue since Jan 2017! I look forward to reviewing @MarcoRubio #PFL plan in full."

Additionally, the plan does not cover some of the other reasons families take leave from work, including but not limited to caring for a sick parent or child or to take personal time while dealing with a serious illness. Although Republicans have yet to show overwhelming support for Rubio's proposal, in this Congress, I wouldn't make too many political predictions