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5. An inside look at family and medical leave in America: The experiences of those who took leave and those who needed or wanted to but couldn’t
About three-in-ten leave takers who received pay combined two or more benefits
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- 5. An inside look at family and medical leave in America: The experiences of those who took leave and those who needed or wanted to but couldn’t
- Physical recovery cited more than any other item as a factor in deciding who would take more time off after the birth or adoption of a child
- Among family-leave takers ages 50 to 64, about half were caring for a seriously ill parent
- About two-thirds of women who took family leave say they were the primary caregiver for their ill family member
- Men, women offer somewhat different views of the impact of taking parental or family leave on their job or career
- Hispanics and those with lower incomes are particularly likely to say it was difficult to learn about leave benefits
- About half of leave takers with a bachelor’s degree , higher incomes say they had to respond to work-related communication
- Fewer than half of lower-income leave takers say their supervisor was very supportive when they took time off
- Nearly all leave takers who received full pay say they went back to work for the same employer
- Many lower-income parental-leave takers say they took on debt, went on public assistance or put off paying bills to cover lost wages or salary
- About three-in-ten leave takers who received pay combined two or more benefits
- About eight-in-ten leave takers who received pay used vacation days, sick leave or PTO they had earned
- Leave takers with lower incomes and less education are the least likely to say they received at least some pay
- Most who took less time off than they needed or wanted to cite loss of wages or salary as a reason
- Just over half of parental-leave takers say they took less time off from work than they needed or wanted to
- Length of parental leave varies considerably by gender, type of employer and income
- Demographic differences emerge when looking at those who needed or wanted to take leave but weren’t able to
- About half of workers say they received full pay when they took time off from work for parental, family or medical reasons
- About a quarter of workers took time off for parental, family or medical reasons in the past two years
- About half of leave takers with a bachelor’s degree, higher incomes say they had to respond to work-related communication