Paid Leave Mandates and Care for Older Parents.

Milbank Q

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

Published: September 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study analyzes the impact of Paid Family Leave (PFL) and Paid Sick Leave (PSL) policies on the ability of individuals to care for older parents, finding that PSL significantly increases care provision, especially when PFL and PSL are offered together.
  • Stronger effects were observed among women and adult children without partners, indicating these groups benefit most from the policies.
  • The findings suggest that while PSL improves care provision, PFL alone does not have the same effect unless it includes job protection, highlighting the need for thoughtful policy design in supporting family caregivers.

Article Abstract

Unlabelled: Policy Points We examined the effect of the Paid Family Leave policy (PFL) and Paid Sick Leave policy (PSL) on care provision to older parents. We found that PSL adoption led to an increase in care provision, an effect mainly attributable to respondents in states/periods when PSL and PFL were concurrently offered. Some of the strongest effects were found among women and unpartnered adult children. PFL adoption by itself was not associated with care provision to parents except when PFL also offered job protection. Paid leave policies have heterogeneous effects on eldercare and their design and implementation should be carefully considered.

Context: Family caregivers play a critical role in the American long-term care system. However, care responsibilities are known to potentially conflict with paid work, as about half of family caregivers are employed. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act passed by the US Congress in 1993 provides a nonuniversal, unpaid work benefit. In response, several states and localities have adopted the Paid Family Leave policy (PFL) and Paid Sick Leave policy (PSL) over the last two decades. Our objective is to examine the effect of these policies on the probability of personal care provision to older parents.

Methods: This study used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2020). Difference-in-differences regression models were estimated to examine associations between state- and local-level PFL and PSL mandates and personal care provision to older parents. We analyzed heterogeneous effects by the type of paid leave exposure (provision of job protection with PFL and availability of both PSL and PFL [with or without job protection] concurrently). We also examined results for different population subgroups.

Findings: PSL implementation was associated with a four- to five-percentage point increase in the probability of personal care provision. These effects were mainly attributable to respondents in states/periods when PSL and PFL were concurrently offered. The strongest effects were found among adult children who were employed at baseline, women, younger, unpartnered, and college educated. PFL implementation by itself was not associated with care provision to parents except when the policy also offered job protection.

Conclusions: Paid leave policies have heterogeneous impacts on personal care provision, potentially owing to differences in program features, variation in caregiving needs, and respondent characteristics. Overall, the results indicate that offering paid sick leave and paid family leave, when combined with job protection, could support potential family caregivers.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11576588PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12708DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

care provision
32
paid leave
16
leave policy
16
personal care
16
older parents
12
paid family
12
family leave
12
paid sick
12
sick leave
12
provision older
12

Similar Publications

Embracing the mental health challenges of uterus transplant candidates.

Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand

January 2025

Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Uterus transplantation (UTx) has emerged from clinical trials and is expected to become the standard of care for uterine factor infertility. Uterus transplant candidates historically have had to meet strict eligibility criteria to participate in clinical trials. Continued application of psychologic selection criteria from clinical trial may hinder the expansion of UTx.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Experiences of Emergency Nurses Providing End-of-Life Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

J Adv Nurs

January 2025

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Sub-Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.

Aim: To explore the experiences of emergency nurses providing end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods: Data were collected between May and August 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Situational assessment of physical rehabilitation services in Zambia: issues and challenges.

Disabil Rehabil

January 2025

Discipline of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Republic of South Africa.

Purpose: The necessity to enhance physical rehabilitation services in Zambia has been recognised. To achieve this through expanding human resources for health in rehabilitation and increasing service coverage, it is essential to comprehensively understand the current issues and challenges in physical rehabilitation within the country. This paper aimed to conduct a situational assessment of physical rehabilitation services in Zambia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Pharmacy work encompasses two main streams. These are logistic flow (the supply and distribution of healthcare products) and pharmaceutical flow (the dispensing and provision of pharmacy services). The pharmaceutical flow has increased significantly with the introduction of reimbursed services such as Rapid Diagnostic Tests, chronic disease screening, minor ailment prescriptions, vaccine prescription and administration, and medication reviews.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Supporting healthy ageing for people with intellectual disabilities in group homes: Staff experiences.

J Intellect Dev Disabil

September 2024

Living with Disability Research Centre, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

Background: This study explores the perceptions of supported accommodation staff and their managers of the support needs of residents ageing with intellectual disabilities, and their experiences of adjusting services for this group in the context of individualised funding.

Method: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 staff working in Australian supported accommodation services.

Findings: Four themes emerged.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!