New York State Paid Family Leave: Where We've Been and Where We're Going

As of January 1, 2018, covered employees in New York State could take time off under Paid Family Leave. Most employees in the state who work for private employers qualify for job-protected, paid time off for employees to bond with a newly born, adopted or fostered child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or assist loved ones when a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent is deployed abroad on active military service.

Benefits are being phased in over a four-year period that began in 2018, and many New Yorkers took part in the first year of the program. In 2018, more than 86,500 working New Yorkers, approximately 58,900 women and 26,600 men, took an average of 33 days of Paid Family Leave to bond with a new child. Approximately 39,000 employees took an average of 21 days of Paid Family Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Further, more than 150 employees took an average of 12 days of Paid Family Leave when a family member was called to active military service abroad.

In 2019, eligible employees could take up to 10 weeks of paid time off. Employees taking Paid Family Leave received 55% of their average weekly wage, up to a cap of 55% of the current Statewide Average Weekly Wage of $1,357.11, making the maximum weekly benefit $746.41. Find more information about New York State Paid Family Leave at our website.

As 2020 approaches, Paid Family Leave’s protections will be even stronger in the new year. The maximum number of weeks available for leave remains at 10 weeks. However, employees taking Paid Family Leave in 2020 will receive 60% of their average weekly wage, up to a cap of 60% of the current Statewide Average Weekly Wage of $1,401.17, making the maximum weekly benefit $840.70. Additionally, access to Paid Family Leave is expanding to workers who provide farm labor in New York.

Research shows that paid leave increases the chances that women keep working and provides many benefits to children during their development. However, the largest study of paid family leave done in the US shows that while paid leave is gaining in popularity, there was a negative impact on mothers who took this leave on their employment and earnings.

This study followed 153,000 women, almost all of the eligible women who gave birth in California in the first and third quarters of 2004, which was the first year California offered paid family leave. The results showed that new mothers who took paid leave that year ended up working less and earning less 10 years later, averaging $24,000 in cumulative lost wages. Additionally, new mothers who took paid leave were less likely to be employed after 10 years. The authors of this study cite several possible reasons for these results, including:

• The lack of subsidized childcare for parents returning to work
• The disparity between the number of mothers and the number of fathers who take leave, changing their work and family routines
• The women worked fewer hours, moved to jobs with lower wages and more flexibility, or became self-employed
• The results, limited to women who took leave immediately after paid leave became available, might have been more inclined to step back from work in the first place
• If mothers, but not fathers, are out of work and handling most of the childcare in the first weeks of a child’s life, the division of labor could get locked in

While these results may be surprising, it does not mean that paid leave should be written off. Instead, employers and legislatures should do more to ensure that paid leave is designed and used effectively. For example, the authors of this study say encouraging fathers to also take leave could lead to more gender equality in the workplace.

Written by Law Clerk, Emily Entwistle.