The Emperor’s New Family Leave Proposal

Reading about a proposed 16-week paid family leave proposal for Washington, D.C., I was surprised at the notion that the tax to cover it is calculated to be only 1% of wages. A third of a year multiplied by two children means it would take over 65 years of working to cover the leave with a 1% tax. Then I started hearing the voice of that emperor that Vader is always telling us about. “In Washington, D.C. those with jobs mostly don’t bear or get children, and those who do father children mostly don’t have jobs, so the math works out.”