Effects of Paid Family Leave Policies on Intimate Partner Violence in New York City from 2012 to 2022.

Abstract

Introduction: Experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) during the prenatal period can result in maternal mental health challenges, adverse birth outcomes (e.g., pre-term birth and low birth rates), and children's mental, cognitive, and physical health issues (Donovan et al., 2016; Hahn et al., 2018). Access to economic support policies, like state-sponsored paid family leave (PFL), during the perinatal period may be a strategy to reduce financial stress and prevent IPV (Niolon et al., 2017). This paper explores whether living in a state with PFL (i.e., New York) reduces IPV for working mothers during pregnancy.

Methods: Data for this study are drawn from the Pregnancy Risk and Monitoring System (PRAMS). We used difference-in-differences (DiD) accounting for multiple time periods and multiple groups to estimate the average treatment effect (ATE) of paid family leave enactment in New York State using data from New York City.

Results: We found nearly a 30% reduction in IPV during pregnancy for working mothers in NYC compared to those living in states without a state-sponsored PFL policy.

Discussion: These findings suggest economic support policies may have an anticipatory effect on expectant caregivers. Additional research is needed to further understand this association.