Washington (Web Desk): US President Donald Trump’s first detailed budget request will seek funds for the creation of a program to grant mothers and fathers six weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, two senior White House budget office officials said.
According to The Washington Post, the budget proposal next week will include a new benefit for America’s working parents, one Democrats have long championed and Republicans have long opposed: paid family leave.
The president’s first detailed budget request on Tuesday will seek funds for the creation of a program to grant mothers and fathers six weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, two senior White House budget office officials said.
The proposal for a family leave program was one of the few relatively large ticket items in a budget which is expected to contain sweeping reductions in spending on nondefense measures.
The White House officials said details of the program still had to be worked out through negotiation with Congress.
But Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who also acts as an assistant to the president and has been a chief advocate for the policy inside the White House, is expected to play a central role in discussions about how to construct it.
The plan unveiled by the senior White House budget office officials appeared more inclusive than Trump’s first proposals on mandatory maternity leave during the election campaign.
That proposal last September — while a break from the traditional Republican position on paid leave — restricted the benefit to biological mothers, provoking a backlash from Democrats and gender equality activists.
Under the newest proposal, fathers and adoptive parents would also qualify for the financial relief, which would be paid through the country’s unemployment insurance system.
The program is expected to cost about $25 billion over 10 years, and will benefit about 1.3 million people, the White House officials said.
The program will not have an income limit, but high earners would see their benefit capped, the officials said.