Completing Social Security: Paid Leave and the Social Security Act

The Social Security Act of 1935’s twin flagship programs, unemployment insurance and retirement benefits, each provide cash benefits to replace lost wages when income is cut off due to harms beyond our control. But the Social Security Act fails to protect workers against wage loss due to serious but temporary illness, which poses a risk to economic security that parallels job loss and old age. This missing insurance protection is better known today as paid leave. The omission of wage loss insurance for serious illness leaves a profound gap in the Social Security Act that was recognized since the law’s passage. Without paid leave, the Social Security Act remains incomplete, jeopardizing Americans’ economic security and undermining the ability of unemployment and retirement benefits to fulfill their purpose. This Article argues that the United States should complete the Social Security Act by enacting paid leave for all.