The effects of paid family leave on food insecurity\u2014evidence from California

Otto Lenhart

doi:10.1007/s11150-020-09537-4

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the 2004 introduction of California’s paid family leave (PFL) program on food security. While previous work has shown that PFL laws affect employment, poverty and health, there is no evidence so far whether such policies affect food security levels of families after the birth of a child. Estimating difference-in-differences (DD) and triple difference (DDD) models, this is the first study to evaluate potential effects on food security, which could be a potential mechanism explaining improvements in health outcomes for both infants and mothers found in previous studies. My analysis shows that California’s PFL implementation reduced the incidence of very low household food security by 2.29 (DD) and 1.98 percentage points (DDD) in the year following a birth. I find that the effects are driven improvements in food security among children who are 1.41 percentage points less likely to be food insecure after the PFL introduction. Subgroup analysis shows that the effects are largest for low-income households, a group that has been shown to highly value PFL benefits, as well as for families with more than one child.

Highlights

The United States is the only developed country without a national paid family leave (PFL) program for parents following the birth of a child
While researchers have shown that the policy introduction improved labor market outcomes as well as the health of children and mothers, this analysis evaluates the impact of the law on food security of affected households
By finding that California’s PFL program reduced the likelihood of households experiencing very low food insecurity rates by 2.29 percentage points and reduced child food insecurity by 1.41 percentage points, the analysis provides evidence for additional positive effects of paid family leave programs on well-being

Summary

Introduction

The United States is the only developed country without a national paid family leave (PFL) program for parents following the birth of a child. Research on California’s PFL shows that, in addition to affecting poverty rates (Stanczyk 2019) and maternal labor market outcomes (Byker 2016; Das and Polachek 2015), the program provides health benefits for both children (Lichtman-Sadot and Pillay Bell 2017; Pihl and Basso 2019) and mothers (Bullinger 2019). The nationwide policy requires employers of 50 or more workers to provide at least 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave with guaranteed health insurance after the birth or adoption of a child. While the remaining states provide job protection, California, New Jersey, Washington and D.C. only guarantee job protection if leave is taken under FMLA simultaneously

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Conclusion