Don't Be Fooled by Trump's Parental Leave Plan, The Budget Is Bad for Women

From ELLE

• Nancy Pelosi says "President Trump's budget shows he does not value the future of seniors, children and working families."

• Trump would cut Medicaid, even though during his campaign he promised not to.

• Cutting food stamps could have drastic ramifications for women's health and economic outcomes.

Donald Trump's newly released budget plan for 2018 calls for six weeks of paid parental leave, administered through the unemployment insurance system. This is a huge leap from his campaign promise of offering paid leave only to working mothers who give birth, rather than any new parents, including if they adopt. However, while this one issue is certainly a step forward, Trump's entire budget slashes funding for domestic and safety net programs. And, as usual, women are positioned to suffer.

There is no reference to the paid parental leave program in the budget blueprint released by the White House, but the New York Times reports Trump has requested $19 billion over 10 years for a new program. But the budget cuts funding for numerous programs that women disproportionately rely on.

"Throwing billions at defense while abandoning working families will only hollow out our national strength. The budget is a statement of our values. President Trump's budget shows he does not value the future of seniors, children and working families," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in a statement.

"Gimmicks and misdirection cannot cover up just how harmful this budget really is-and are dwarfed by more than $1 trillions in cuts to other programs that women and their families rely on," said Erica Sackin, director of political communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The proposed plan would prohibit Planned Parenthood from participating in any program funded through Congress's annual Labor-HHS bill. "It is beyond disingenuous that this administration would propose a paid leave policy, all the while spearheading a law that would block women from birth control and cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood and take maternity care away from millions of women."

Planned Parenthood isn't the only program that's hit. The budget would deeply cut programs for the poor, including SNAP benefits (food stamps), which according to a 2013 Pew study are twice as likely to be used by women than men. A Northwestern Institute for Policy Research brief also showed that food stamps lead to better health and economic outcomes for women. "Mothers who receive food stamps while pregnant have a reduced risk of having a low-birth weight infant," said the brief, and that they especially benefited Black women and women living in high poverty areas.

"Women who benefit from food stamps in early childhood are more economically self-sufficient as adults. These women are more likely to be a high school graduate, have a job, and have higher earnings. They are also less likely to participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or food stamp programs," said the brief.

Trump justifies the gutting by saying tightened eligibility requirements would encourage people to work. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said in a briefing "If you're on food stamps and able-bodied, we need you to go to work." According to a White House Council of Economic Advisers report from 2015, 79% of SNAP recipients either work, are looking for work, or cannot work due to a disability. Others are often primary caregivers of children or the elderly.

The budget also cuts the Children's Health Insurance Program by 20% in the next year, and severely cuts federal funding for Medicaid, even though Trump promised not to touch Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid during his campaign. There are currently 74.6 million Americans who receive Medicaid or CHIP, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Women comprise two-thirds of the adult population covered by Medicaid. Women are also more likely to need it at some point in their lives, since they are more likely to be covered as dependents rather than directly through their jobs, so they are more at risk of losing health insurance coverage if they are widowed or divorced. Medicaid finances over half of all births in the U.S., and half of all long-term care spending. And since women tend to live longer than men, they rely more on those benefits.

"Cuts of this magnitude will hurt everyone, but disproportionately harm low-income women and families, communities of color, LGBTQ individuals, immigrants, and religious minorities," said Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper, advocacy fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health, in a statement. "It will be catastrophic to health care in our country-reducing access to vital care and services, cutting public health research funding, and gutting the Medicaid program. My patients and their families will lose basic support services so that the wealthy can get tax breaks, and that is a shameful priority."

This is all on top of cutting disability benefits, college loan programs, and eliminating funding for programs like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Global Climate Change Initiative. But military spending goes up.

A comprehensive parental leave policy is something the United States has needed for a long time. The U.S., Suriname, and Papua New Guinea are the only countries in the world that do not provide some paid parental leave policy. Trump's budget still needs to go through Congress.

"This administration is trying to score political points on the backs of poor women and families. This cruel and senseless budget would decimate the Medicaid insurance program and continue the pain and punishment of the Hyde Amendment," said Destiny Lopez, co-director of All* Above All in a statement. "This budget is the manifestation of a disrespectful and damaging view of women-it's deeply troubling. Trump's budget takes away affordable birth control, punishes women who end their pregnancies, and slashes programs women and families need to thrive. No matter what we choose, women are punished and our health suffers."

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