Economic Empowerment for Georgia Women
Support the Family Care Act
-- UPDATE: The Family Care Act passed the State Legislature this year and now goes before the Governor for his signature! --
In Georgia, an estimated 878,000 people do not have the ability to use their sick days to care for a loved one in need, forcing them to make the impossible choice between taking care of a sick family member and keeping food on the table. This is especially detrimental for women, who most often serve as caretakers. SB 201 (Sen. Butch Miller, 49th), the Family Care Act, will enable people to use their earned sick time to care for loved ones. The Family Care Act will strengthen families and boost the economy:
- More often than we realize, people’s jobs are at risk when they need to use a sick day to care for a family member.
- Losing a day’s wages, or worse, a job, for keeping a sick child home from school or bringing an aging parent to the doctor undermines women's economic security.
- The Family Care Act will strengthen economic security for working women and their families without requiring employers to provide any additional sick days.
The Family Care Act will save Georgia money and strengthen public health:
- Parents with flexible sick leave are less likely to send a sick child to school, reducing the spread of illness in the classroom.
- Parents without flexible sick days are five times more likely to take their child to the emergency room because they were unable to schedule a doctor’s visit during normal work hours.
- Seniors recover from illness faster when cared for by family members, reducing the length of hospital stays by nearly a third, and improving long-term health.
Georgians strongly support the Family Care Act:
- Georgians across the political spectrum support the Family Care Act, and the bill has bipartisan support in the state legislature.
- A July 2016 poll of Georgia voters found that 75% supported the Family Care Act, including the majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents polled.
- The Family Care Act is supported by a broad coalition of economists, small businesses, health professionals, and groups that advocate for women, children, seniors and the disabled.
Adapted from the Georgia JobFamily Collective