California's paid parental leave plan lacks equitable access
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Eligible California residents have had state-sponsored paid parental leave for years, but experts say not everyone can access it and use it.
Why it matters: Employees who don't take advantage of time off policies could miss out on payments and benefits crucial for family bonding and recovery, such as improved mental and physical health outcomes.
Context: California enacted the country's first paid family leave program in 2002. It provides up to eight weeks of benefits to eligible workers, such as parents bonding with a new child — defined as a baby, adopted, or foster child.
- Depending on their income, parents receive about 60%-70% of wages earned five to 18 months before their claim start date. The eight weeks can be taken within any 12-month period.
- The program, which is modeled after the financing structure for the state's disability insurance, is funded via a 1.1% tax on the majority of California workers' paychecks.
Caveat: "Just because there's a policy that exists at the state level doesn't necessarily mean that everybody who lives in that state is going to equally access it," Stanford health policy professor Maya Rossin-Slater told Axios.
- There's still a "significant amount of variation across companies and employers in terms of how information [about paid leave] is transmitted to workers and how much help is provided ... in terms of navigating these benefits," she noted.
Between the lines: Rossin-Slater's research has shown that higher-income workers are "much more likely" to use the program than lower-income workers, who are often afraid they could be let go from their jobs. California's program doesn't provide job protection.
- Racial and ethnic disparities also persist. Paid family leave access nationwide is significantly lower among Asian, Black, and Hispanic workers compared to white workers, per a 2022 analysis of government data.
Zoom in: San Francisco implemented its own ordinance in 2016, becoming the first U.S. city to require fully paid parental leave.
- Under the law, employers with 20 or more employees must provide supplemental compensation on top of the state program to ensure a worker receives the equivalent of their full salary for up to 12 weeks.
- State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored the law during his time as a supervisor, has emphasized its role in enabling parents of all genders to bond with their child — especially fathers — so that care is more evenly distributed.
Yes, but: A 2020 study found that while the ordinance increased parental leave uptake in San Francisco by 13% among fathers, there was no significant change among mothers.
- Part of the issue is "limited awareness" of the mandate, the study notes.
- Moreover, low-income workers were more likely to not understand parental leave benefits and were less likely to work in jobs covered by the ordinance.
The bottom line: "The devil is in the details," Rossin-Slater said. "How you actually implement this program, how you set these parameters is going to matter in terms of the impact this is going to have on workers, their families, and employers."