Paid Sick Leave Mandates Narrow Gender Gaps in Paid Sick Leave Coverage for Low-Wage Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Harknett, Kristen ; Schneider, Daniel
• Description:
  Paid sick leave helps workers recover from illness and manage care obligations and protects public health. Yet access to paid sick leave remains limited and unequal in the United States. Drawing on surveys of 61,223 service-sector workers collected during the period 2017-21 by the Shift Project, we documented limited access to paid sick leave and stark gender inequality, with women less likely than men to have paid sick leave. Part-time employment and gender segregation by industry subsector each explain part, but not all, of the gender disparity. However, in states and localities that mandate paid sick leave for workers, workers are far more likely to report access to this benefit, and the gender gap is eliminated. Guaranteeing paid sick leave to all workers would offer a range of benefits for workers, employers, and public health while also offering the further benefit of reducing gender inequality.
• Keywords:
  Employment Female Humans Male Salaries And Fringe Benefits Sex Factors Sick Leave Surveys And Questionnaires United States
• Source:
  Health Aff (Millwood). 41(11):1575-1582
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00727
• Pubmed ID:
  36343314
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10700023
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 AG066898/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U19 OH012293/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R21 HD091578/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  41
• Issue:
  11
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:005d1a8c02838d39936e398d0fe11fbe9b8516fe0c8bac2a9d46eda916bcd5932dca306603892f85cdc6c3febafcbda9defe3d3a8f76324ff8ed7f4eb5036a15
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/136226/cdc_136226_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 863.38 KB ]