Low-wage workers in California can't afford to take family leave. This bill aims to change that.

Miranda Griswold and her partner were thrilled to grow their family when they had their first child in 2018. The less thrilling part: adding baby costs to their existing expenses — alimony payments, student loans and credit card bills.

Griswold had a C-section and her doctor recommended she stay at her Merced home for six weeks of recovery time. Her fiancé, who works at a commercial printing press, returned to work after one week of vacation because they couldn’t afford for him to take more time off using family leave, which would replace only 60% of his wages.

“There was no way we could make that percentage work,” said Griswold.

That’s the case for many workers in California. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego County, authored a bill this year to increase that percentage — making it more realistic for low-income earners to use the leave that they’re required to fund with 1.2% of every paycheck.

Assembly Bill 123, which the Assembly passed on a 65-0 vote in May and is now in the Senate, would increase the wage replacement rate from at least 60% to 90% of a worker’s highest quarterly earnings in the past 18 months.

Read more: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/low-wage-workers-in-california-cant-afford-to-take-family-leave-this-bill-aims-to-change-that/