Changes in Maternity Leave among Women in Low-Income Households in San Francisco: Response to the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance

Julia Goodman , OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
Holly Stewart, University of California, Berkeley
William H. Dow, University of California, Berkeley

San Francisco recently enacted the most far-reaching paid leave law in the U.S., requiring that employers supplement income up to 100% of wages for employees on leave. Using a pre-post survey, we examine the effect of the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO) on maternity leave use and proportion paid. We estimate multivariate difference-in-differences regression models comparing changes in leave-taking and benefits among new mothers employed in San Francisco before and after the PPLO compared to similar mothers employed in surrounding counties, stratified by household income. Preliminary baseline results show disparities in leave-taking and benefits by income, with lower income mothers less frequently offered employer-paid leave and offered shorter leave at lower replacement rates. We expect the follow-up survey to reveal an increase in the proportion of low-income mothers offered paid leave and a corresponding increase in the duration of postnatal leave taken among mothers exposed to the PPLO.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 9. Marriage, Family, Households, & Unions; Gender, Race, & Ethnicity