Paid family leave and reduced acute respiratory infections in young infants: Does everyone benefit equally?

Background and objectives: To examine whether the effect of a paid family leave program on acute care encounters for respiratory tract infections (RTI) among young infants differed by subgroups.

Methods: We examined 52943 hospitalizations and emergency department visits between Oct 2015 and Feb 2020 among infants aged ≤8 weeks in New York, which introduced paid family leave in January 2018, and four New England control states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine). We conducted a controlled time series analysis that compared observed counts in New York during the putative respiratory virus season (Oct-Mar) in each population subgroup to those predicted in the absence of the policy.

Results: Absolute reductions in RTI-related acute care encounters among young infants were greater for Hispanic as compared to non-Hispanic white infants (5.60 fewer cases per 1000 infants [95% CI: -8.74 to -2.51]) and for encounters paid for by Medicaid as compared to private payer (4.22 fewer cases per 1000 [95% CI: -6.45, -2.18]). Findings by Child Opportunity Index 2.0 quintiles showed no clear pattern.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest the program may have larger benefits for infants from less advantaged groups.