Paid leave advocates claim that the Democrats’ current paid leave proposal is universal, but it isn’t really. In order to be eligible for benefits, new parents need to have been working in the three to six months prior to birth. This work history requirement will probably exclude around one in three new mothers, including new parents who are still in education, who have a work-limiting disability, or who suffer an unluckily timed spell of unemployment.

When I make this point, some advocates respond by saying I am being ridiculous. They say that it’s no scandal that a paid leave program only covers people who were previously working, because that’s the whole point of it: to compensate people who are taking leave from their job. Below, I explain why this response is wrong and why including all new parents in a parental leave program makes sense.