Between 2019 and 2020, New Jersey implemented one of the nation’s most generous paid family leave policies, providing 12 weeks of paid leave for bonding with an infant at 85% of weekly wages. Previous analysis found that the number of individuals claiming paid family leave benefits in NJ increased for both men and women from 2014 to 2022, with average duration of leave increasing from 5.4 weeks in 2014 to 9.7 weeks in 2022. However, research shows that access to paid family leave in the U.S. is often not equitable across race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
As part of the enactment of the expansion of paid leave, the NJ Department of Labor (DOL) began collecting demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of claimants. In this brief, we use data from the NJ DOL Annual Reports to examine how increases in take-up of paid leave in NJ vary across demographic and socioeconomic groups from 2020 to 2023.
Figure 1 shows the percent change in the number of eligible paid leave claims filed for bonding with a newborn, relative to 2020, by race and ethnicity. We include the four largest demographic groups with sufficient sample sizes (White/Caucasian, African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian). We find that all groups experienced increases in paid leave claims, however, African American/Black claimants saw the slowest increase with only a 17% increase in 2023 relative to 2020. Other groups saw steeper increases over this time period, including White/Caucasian (29% increase), Asian (27%), and Hispanic (42%).
Figure 2 shows the percent change by highest educational attainment. The figure shows very similar trajectories across education groups, with all groups reaching gains of 28-34% in 2023, relative to 2020.
Overall, we find evidence that all education groups experienced similar gains in use of paid family leave for bonding with a newborn; however, African American/Black claimants had the lowest gains compared to other race and ethnicity groups. Increasing access to paid leave through employer-based education, community outreach, and partnering with health care providers is critical to increase paid leave equity in NJ. More research to understand barriers to accessing paid leave benefits in NJ among Black parents is needed.
Figure 1. Percent change in number of claims by race and ethnicity
(Source: NJ Department of Labor Annual Reports)
Figure 2. Percent change in number of claims by highest education level
(Source: NJ Department of Labor Annual Reports)