New York State’s New Paid Family Leave Law Is the Strongest One Yet

When Torry from Yonkers, New York had her baby girl in 2015, she was shocked to learn that she didn’t have maternity leave. She destroyed her credit rating trying to make ends meet with credit card purchases while she took unpaid time to care for her daughter and suffered emotional stress on top of the financial stress. She was anxious and had trouble sleeping throughout her daughter’s first year of life. She shared her story with the legal experts and advocates at A Better Balance, an advocacy leader on the issue, in hopes it would help them to make the case for paid family leave in New York. Her story, and many like it, contributed to convincing New York’s lawmakers that they needed to take action.

When Governor Cuomo signed New York’s paid family leave bill in 2016 (the Paid Leave Law), he talked about how he wished he had spent more time with his Dad, former governor Mario Cuomo, when he was seriously ill at the end of his life. He notes that family should come first—over work. Millions of New Yorkers will now be able to put family first.

On January 1, 2018, New York became the fourth state in the nation to enact paid family and medical leave, joining California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island in providing this guarantee that people won’t have to choose between their families and their paycheck. Washington, D.C. and Washington State have also passed paid leave laws, but neither has gone into effect yet. While all of these laws demonstrate a commitment to valuing families, of those already in effect, New York’s is the most comprehensive.

The American dream includes the idea that you can be there for your family without sacrificing your paycheck to do it. Yet the lack of care resources in the United States puts a lot of pressure on individuals, and especially women, who are still the primary caregivers in many families. Today most women are working both inside and outside the home and most families rely on the paychecks. Paid family and medical leave laws ensure that people can care for expanding their families (having babies or welcoming an adopted or foster child) or for serious illnesses—their own or a loved one’s.1

As I discuss in “Tech Companies Are Leading the Way on Paid Family Leave,” a strong, comprehensive paid family and medical leave policy can improve the health of mothers, babies, and family members who have the benefit of loved ones to care for them. It contributes to better parental bonding and child development. Furthermore, a policy that includes mothers and fathers contributes to greater gender equality, and one that includes diverse families creates greater equality for LGBTQ individuals, among others. In addition, the financial benefits of having paid leave can reduce income inequality and increase family stability.

New York’s lawmakers, and the advocates who worked to help pass the bill, had the benefit of having as models the paid leave policies in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, which have been in effect since 2004, 2009, and 2014, respectively. These laws have helped make paid leave more understood and accepted. Lawmakers and advocates also had the benefit of learning from what’s worked and what hasn’t. (The new laws in Washington, D.C. and Washington State, and amendments made to California’s law in 2013 and 2016, are more progressive than the earlier state laws, as well). As a result of those lessons, and of the willingness of the elected officials involved to commit to a more ambitious policy, the New York law is stronger than those that came before it in a number of significant ways, chiefly: more time to care; job protection; near-universal inclusion; and the provision of resources for public education and outreach.