To N.H. legislators and the governor: Please support paid family and medical leave bills Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 712.
Recent spousal health problems have provided me first-hand experience with caregiving.
I learned that personal caregiving, transportation to physician appointments, time in the ER and hospital, picking up prescriptions and total responsibility for maintaining the household is a full-time, exhausting job. It is a time of great uncertainty and stress. For many, financial challenges may arise.
Most N.H. working folks do not have the resources to hire caregivers, leaving many in the position of having to reduce work time, resign or retire early to support and stabilize their family and loved one.
Some opposed to the paid leave bills use the T-word. Rather than a tax, it is an earned benefit as employees would make contributions from their paycheck, similar to our very successful public insurance programs like Medicare or Social Security, creating a fund to be used when/if needed.
This is not a hand-out.
In times of family illness, injury, declining health or life-changing events, working people need time for caregiving and must be able to rely on their income to secure their families, and count on a job to return to.
Our N.H. population is the second oldest in the nation. On behalf of all those thousands of N.H. citizens who do and will face these challenges, please support paid family and medical leave.
GAIL LAKER-PHELPS
Chichester