Workers not Paid for Sick Leave after Implementation of the New York City Paid Sick Leave Law.

This study examined factors associated with being paid for sick leave after implementation of the New York City (NYC) paid sick leave law. A random sample of NYC residents was surveyed by telephone multiple times over a 2-year period. Participants (n = 1195) reported socio-demographics, awareness of the law, income, work hours per week, and payment for sick time off work. In the year after implementation of the law, part-time workers were significantly more likely to attend work while sick than full-time workers (relative risk = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.1, 1.4). Seventy percent of workers who missed work due to illness (n = 249) were paid for sick leave. Part-time workers, respondents not aware of the benefit (30% of workers), and workers without a college degree were the least likely to be paid for sick days. More than one third (37%) of persons not paid for sick leave worked in retail, food service, or health care. Although 70% of respondents were paid for sick leave after implementation of the law, part-time workers and workers with low education were least likely to access the benefit and more likely to work while sick. The disparity in paid sick leave may have public health consequences as many persons not paid for sick leave had occupations that carry a high risk of disease transmission to others.

Paid family leave and parental investments in infant health: Evidence from California.

This paper evaluates the effect of Paid Family Leave (PFL) on breastfeeding and immunizations- two critical parental investments in infant health - which we identify using California's 2004 PFL policy that ensured mothers up to six weeks of leave at a 55% wage replacement rate. We employ difference-in-difference and difference-in-difference-in-differences models for a large, representative sample of children (N = 314,532) born between 2000 and 2013 drawn from the restricted-use versions of the 2003-2014 National Immunization Surveys. Our most conservative estimates indicate that access to PFL is associated with at least a 15% increase in breastfeeding exclusively for at least six months. We find substantially large effects for disadvantaged mothers, adding to the existing evidence that access to state-sanctioned paid family leave might benefit children overall and disadvantaged children in particular.