If they are "independent contractors" then who exactly is paying for this time off, etc?
I'm not sure how it would work for vacations, since it's kind of your job as the contractor to earn enough to set aside your own vacation time. Parental leave should be administered as a public insurance pool that ICs pay into through self-employment taxes.
So what is the difference then?
Generally what you're describing is a full time employee... that's kinda the thing you didn't seem to like.
I think they want the government to provide those, rather than employers. If society decides that this is the bare minimum someone should have, then society should provide it.