Working Paper: NBER ID: w29486
Authors: Ann P. Bartel; Maya Rossin-Slater; Christopher J. Ruhm; Meredith Slopen; Jane Waldfogel
Abstract: The United States is one of the few countries that does not guarantee paid family leave (PFL) to workers. Proposals for PFL legislation are often met with opposition from employer organizations, who fear disruptions to business, especially among small employers. But there has been limited data on employers’ views. We surveyed firms with 10-99 employees in New York and New Jersey on their attitudes towards PFL programs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found high support for state PFL programs in 2019 that rose substantially over the course of the pandemic: by the fall of 2020, almost 70% of firms were supportive. Increases in support were larger among firms that had an employee use PFL, suggesting that experience with PFL led to employers becoming more supportive. Thus, concerns about negative impacts on small employers should not impede efforts to expand PFL at the state or federal levels.
Keywords: Paid Family Leave; COVID-19; Small Business; Employer Attitudes; Employer Surveys
JEL Codes: H50; I18; I38; J38
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| firm characteristics (L20) | employer support for PFL (J32) |
| employee use of PFL during pandemic (J22) | employer support for PFL (J32) |
| use of federal FFCRA (J22) | employer support for state PFL (J32) |
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | employer support for PFL (J32) |
| size of firm (10-49 employees) (L25) | employer support for PFL (J32) |