Among the most common claims used to make the case for government provision of paid leave is that not every working woman gets paid leave, which supposedly demonstrates a market failure. Still, data show that 63% of women today have access to such leave, a 280% increase since the 1960s. The women who don’t receive this benefit are mostly lower-skilled workers with part-time and hourly jobs employed at small businesses.
Undoubtedly, these women would like to get paid to stay home after the birth of their children, yet that’s no more evidence of a market failure than is my not driving a Tesla, even though I’d like to drive one if it were free. This isn’t a reason for government to mandate paid leave (or Teslas) for all workers.
“Capitalism isn’t broken, but populism may be on the verge of breaking it.” – This sentence opens Michael Strain’s latest essay in the Washington Post.
James Capretta argues that market-driven health care is worth the effort.
Pierre Lemieux draws three lessons from the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
George Will wisely calls on the United States Supreme Court to do a Janus-decision encore.
