The impact of paid sick leave mandates on women's employment and economic security

Abstract

The United States does not guarantee job-protected paid leave to workers when they or a family member are ill or need to seek medical care. Prior research shows that women are less likely to have access to paid sick leave (PSL) through their employers. I examine the impacts of three recent state-level paid sick leave policies in California, Massachusetts, and Oregon on women's employment and economic security using data from the American Community Survey. Using difference-in-differences and dynamic effects models, I find that PSL mandates increase women's employment by 1.2 percentage points (a 1.7% increase over the pre-policy baseline mean) with an average increase in income from wages and salary of $2,347, accompanied by steady decreases in poverty in the years after policy implementation. Effects are strongest among mothers and women without college degrees. This study demonstrates that PSL improves women's employment and economic security and may play an essential role in the package of policies supporting women's employment and earnings.