The U.S. stands out as the only country among 41 nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents. The result is that access to paid parental leave in the United States is highly inequitable. Workers in higher-income families are substantially more likely to report having access to paid family leave. Some states have enacted their own paid leave laws, with 15 states (including D.C.) passing a mandatory paid leave policy by 2023. New Jersey led this effort and was the 2nd state in the nation to do so.
We used data from the 2019-2024 rounds of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a nationally representative longitudinal survey providing data on income, employment, household composition, and program participation. The sample included women who had a first birth between 2016 and 2023 and who worked during their pregnancy. We compared the distribution of characteristics of women in the sample to the distribution of characteristics for those who took any paid leave (which includes maternity leave, paid vacation, or paid sick leave). We do this comparison for all states and the group of states which enacted mandatory paid leave laws by 2016 (which includes California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York).
Across all states, women who took paid leave were on average 32.8 years old, nearly 1 year older on average than the total sample (31.9 years). They were more likely to have a college degree or post graduate degree (74.3%) than the total sample (62.7%). They were also less likely to have lower income (8.2% had income <$30,000 compared to 16.3% in the total sample). They were less likely to be single or never married (21.3% vs 27.6%). Results show that the characteristics of those who take paid leave are highly skewed towards higher-income households.
When we compared characteristics of women within the states that enacted mandatory paid leave, we found that some gaps in those taking paid leave were smaller. For example, in these states, 15.3% of women had household incomes less than $30,000, and among those taking paid leave that number was 11.0%, a gap of only about 4 percentage points compared to the 8-percentage point gap in the population of all states. These narrowed gaps are also observed across education and marital status. Nevertheless, those taking paid leave were still more likely to have higher income and education.
This descriptive analysis indicates that socioeconomic gaps in access to paid leave appear to be smaller in states that enacted mandatory paid leave policies. More research to investigate these differences using a causal inference framework is necessary to better understand the impact of paid leave laws on reducing disparities in access to paid leave.
Table 1. Distribution of mothers’ sociodemographic characteristics who took paid leave after childbirth, among SIPP participants in all states and those in states with mandatory paid leave policies, 2016-2023
| All states sample | States with Mandatory Paid Leave enacted by 2016 (CA, NJ, RI, NY) sample | |||
| Total (n=2,023)
(%) |
Took paid leave (n=1,006)
(%) |
Total (n=165)
(%) |
Took paid leave (n=84)
(%) |
|
| Age (yrs), mean | 31.9 | 32.8 | 33.3 | 33.2 |
| Highest Education (%) | ||||
| Less Than High School Grad | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2.1 |
| High School Grad | 18.3 | 12.2 | 20.3 | 15.0 |
| Some College/Associate’s degree | 15.8 | 11.8 | 14.3 | 13.4 |
| degree and Post Grad | 62.7 | 74.3 | 64.1 | 69.5 |
| Annual Household Income (%) | ||||
| <$30,000 | 16.3 | 8.2 | 15.3 | 11.0 |
| $30,000-$74,999 | 23.5 | 20.7 | 21.7 | 16.0 |
| ≥$75,000 | 60.2 | 71.1 | 62.9 | 73.1 |
| Marital Status (%) | ||||
| Married/Living as Married | 67.7 | 74.5 | 64.6 | 69.7 |
| Divorced/Separated/Widow | 4.7 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Single/Never Married | 27.6 | 21.3 | 33.6 | 28.7 |
Notes: Data from 2019-2024 SIPPS. Percentages are weighted. Sample population reported working for an employer in the months prior to birth of first child. Paid leave includes categories of paid maternity leave, vacation leave, and paid sick leave.