on profitability and productivity. (20) High-profile employers are increasingly recognizing the value of providing paid leave in reduced turnover and improved employee morale and productivity, yet access to paid leave remains low across most industries, particularly for low- and middle-income workers. Some of the fastest-growing occupations, such as home health care and service jobs, typically pay low wages and are particularly unlikely to offer paid leave benefits. As of 2018, more than 75 businesses and business leaders have endorsed the need for a strong, inclusive national paid leave policy. (21) Californians have filed nearly 2,810,000 paid family leave claims between the implementation of the State's paid family leave program in 2004 and November 2017. In New Jersey, more than 255,000 claims have been filed over the more than 7 years of the program’s existence, and in Rhode Island, nearly 34,000 claims were filed in the program’s first 3 years. These claims represent valuable care for new children and seriously ill loved ones. (22) Social Security is the Nation’s primary social insurance system, with the most complete record of workers' earnings history. It provides retirement assistance and disability benefits currently and, since its creation in 1934, the programs the Social Security Administration administers have been updated multiple times to reflect the changing needs of the population, families and the workforce. The system needs to be changed again now—with appropriate investments to meet the agency’s needs—to reflect today’s realities. (23) Researchers at Brandeis University estimate that, following enactment of this Act, the share of families falling into financial hardship (earnings below 200 percent of the Federal poverty line) as a result of taking 12 weeks of unpaid leave would be reduced by more than 81 percent. (24) Without a national paid leave policy, the United States is missing out on substantial economic activity, which has been estimated at approximately $500,000,000,000 by the