MassBudget: Evidence on How Paid Leave Helps Working Mothers

Maintaining employment connections

Report Examines Effect of Paid Leave on Working Mothers Working parents are more economically secure when they can maintain an income while taking time away from their job to nurture and bond with a new child. One of the goals of paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws is to help new parents maintain an attachment to the labor force. MassBudget's new report, How Paid Family & Medical Leave Impacts Working Mothers, examines recent research including a study of the experience in California, which has the longest-standing and best-documented PFML program in the nation.  Examining the employment history of working mothers before and after the California PFML law took effect, the study finds that after the law, women were substantially more likely to be working a year after having a child than before the law. While new mothers who accessed the state's paid family leave program were out of the workforce in the short term, they were more likely to return to work and remain employed than those without access to PFML MassBudget's new report also examines the data on how often mothers are the primary or sole source of income in a family with children as well as the current availability of paid family and medical leave in New England. It also examines other outcomes in states with PFML laws, including the lengths of leaves taken and the effects on wages. MassBudget's new report can be read here. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today