The Effect of Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Laws on Labor Market Outcomes, Health Care Utilization, and Health Behaviors.

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in ABSTRACTWe evaluate the impact of paid sick leave (PSL) mandates on labor market outcomes, the utilization of health care services, and health behaviors for private sector workers in the United States. By exploiting geographic and temporal variation in PSL mandate adoption, we compare changes in outcomes for workers in counties affected by a PSL mandate to changes for those in counties with no mandate. Additionally, we rely on within-county variation in the propensity to gain PSL following a mandate to estimate policy effects for workers most likely to acquire coverage. Results indicate that PSL mandates lead to increased access to PSL benefits, especially for women without a college degree. We find that PSL laws reduce average weekly hours worked and private sector employment, but appear to have no effect on job tenure or labor force participation. PSL mandates are associated with sizable reductions in emergency department utilization and increases in general practitioner visits. Finally, we present suggestive evidence that PSL mandates lead to more days binge drinking. JEL Classification Codes: I18, I12, J21, J23, J32Key Words: Paid sick leave, labor market, health care, health behaviors Acknowledgments:

Decline in the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses following the implementation of a paid sick leave law in Connecticut

“…The RRs for the change in rates of occupational injuries and illnesses varied greatly among the detailed service occupations affected by the law, which may suggest that the impact of paid sick leave on occupational injuries and illnesses is differential with respect to the occupation. These findings are consistent with previous research which has shown occupational injuries and illnesses to be associated with a wide range of health outcomes including occupational injuries …”

“…Previous research has demonstrated an association between paid sick leave and a number of health indicators. In nationally representative surveys, workers with paid sick leave have been found to have a lower risk of all‐cause mortality, fewer emergency department visits, and lower prevalence of psychological distress and self‐rated fair or poor health . The study examining all‐cause mortality found that the risk of mortality was lowest for heart disease and unintentional injuries .…”

Who Cares? Paid Sick Leave Mandates, Caregiving, and Gender

“…Early studies of the first paid sick leave mandates found mixed evidence on whether mandating access affects leave-taking behavior (Stearns and White, 2018;Maclean, Pichler and Ziebarth, 2020) or employment and earnings (Callison and Pesko (2016); Ahn and Yelowitz (2016); Pichler and Ziebarth (2020); Al-Sabah and Ouimet (2022)). Other studies found evidence that mandating paid sick leave improved health (Stearns and White, 2018;Pichler and Ziebarth, 2017) and increased health care utilization (DeRigne, Stoddard-Dare and Quinn, 2016;Jeung, Lee and Gimm, 2021).…”