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Access to paid leave is lowest among workers with the greatest needs: findings from the December 2021 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey
Access to paid leave is lowest among workers with the greatest needs: findings from the December 2021 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Boyens, Chantel, author
Karpman, Michael, author
Smalligan, Jack, author - Contributor(s):
- Urban Institute, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, July 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Employment -- legislation & jurisprudence
Health Equity -- economics
Health Policy
Poverty -- economics
Sick Leave -- economics
Social Mobility
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Nearly every worker encounters the need to take time off from their job because of illness or injury, to welcome a new child, or to care for an ill family member. The COVID19 pandemic has only increased the need for leave while highlighting the difficulties workers were already facing trying to balance work and care. Workers have had to contend with increased needs for sick leave, as well as time off to isolate or quarantine, stay home with children in quarantine or whose schools and day cares closed, and care for older adults and people with disabilities whose facilities or special services closed. However, many workers cannot take paid time off for these needs, and many do not have the right to take unpaid time off and keep their job. Policymakers in a number of states and localities have taken steps to address the need for paid leave by enacting paid sick days and paid family and medical leave laws. The federal government also enacted the first emergency paid leave legislation with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and some employers voluntarily expanded paid leave policies. In addition, the momentum to establish a permanent federal paid family and medical leave program grew with recent proposals from the Biden administration and leaders in Congress, as well as House passage of the Build Back Better Act (HR 5376). In this brief, we use data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) to examine current rates of access to paid family and medical leave. We begin by providing background on paid family and medical leave benefits available to workers and findings from existing surveys of access to, and usage of, paid family and medical leave. We then examine patterns in access to paid leave among workers ages 18 to 64 who participated in the December 2021 round of the WBNS and reported working for an employer (i.e., were not self-employed) at their main job. Launched in 2017, the WBNS is a nationally representative survey that tracks individual and family well-being as policymakers consider changes to federal safety net programs. The 2021 survey provides unique insights on access to different types of paid leave (medical, caregiving, and parental), duration of paid leave, and differences in access among workers by their employment, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics. It also allows us to examine how levels of material hardship differ between workers with and without paid leave access.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (17 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918471180406676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918471180406676