We urge Governor Sununu to sign Senate Bill 1 into law and ensure paid family and medical leave for Granite Staters.

Currently, New Hampshire employees are not guaranteed any sort of paid family or medical leave under state law. This imposes hardship on workers who are pregnant or dealing with medical issues, and makes it difficult or impossible for many workers to take time to care for family members.

Paid medical and family leave offers many benefits to employees. Paid medical leave can ensure that sick or temporarily disabled workers have time to heal and return to the workforce at full strength. It would reduce the financial burden of illness, a factor in over 40% of bankruptcies in the United States (1). It would also reduce the likelihood of employees coming to work despite an illness, which is detrimental to the employee, potentially risks the health of other employees, and could even be a health or safety hazard.

Family leave is also an important aspect of this bill. New Hampshire prides itself on being a family-friendly state, and offering family leave is consistent with that principle. In particular, paid parental leave has been shown to have many benefits to children. Increases in paid maternity leave reduce infant and child mortality rates (2), and longer maternity leave is linked to increased baby checkups and immunizations (3). Parental leave also has been linked to long-term effects like lower school dropout rates and higher earnings later in life (4).

Paid family and medical leave would also have positive impacts on businesses and the state economy. Paid leave makes workplaces more attractive to employees and increases retention. Women who take paid leave are more likely to continue working 9 to 12 months after a child’s birth. Parents who take paid family leave are less likely to receive public assistance or food stamps in the year after a child’s birth (5). Claims that this program would burden employers are generally unsupported by research. In California, which has had a paid family leave program since 2002, 86.9% of employers reported no cost increases due to the program, and some even saw cost savings. The majority of employers also reported no effect or a positive effect on productivity (88.5%), profitability (91.0%), turnover (92.8%), and morale (98.6%) (6).

Senate Bill 1 would benefit New Hampshire employees, businesses, and families. Governor Sununu should support this effort to move our state forward and sign this bill into law.

For more information, visit the petition information website here.

References:

(1) Himmelstein, D. U., Thorne, D., Warren, E., & Woolhandler, S. (2009). Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study. The American Journal of Medicine, 122(8), 741-746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.04.012

(2) Heymann, J., Raub, A., & Earle, A. (2011). Creating and Using New Data Sources to Analyze the Relationship Between Social Policy and Global Health: The Case of Maternal Leave. Public Health Reports, 126, 127-134. doi: 10.1177/00333549111260S317

(3) Berger, L. M., Hill, J., & Waldfogel, J. (2005). Maternity Leave, Early Maternal Employment and Child Health and Development in the US. The Economic Journal, 115, F29-F47. doi:10.1111/j.0013-0133.2005.00971.x

(4) Carniero, P., Løken, K. V., & Salvanes, K. G. (2011). A Flying Start? Maternity Leave Benefits and Long Run Outcomes of Children. Institute for the Study of Labor, Discussion Paper 5793. Retrieved from http://ftp.iza.org/dp5793.pdf

(5) Rutgers Center for Women and Work. (2012). Pay Matters: The Positive Economic Impacts of Paid Family Leave for Families, Businesses and the Public. New Brunswick, NJ: Houser, L., & Vartanian, T. P. Retrieved from smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/images/CWW_Paid_Leave_Brief_Jan_2012_0.pdf

(6) Center for Economic and Policy Research. (2011). Leaves That Pay: Employer and Worker Experiences With Paid Family Leave in California. Washington, DC: Appelbaum, E., & Milkman, R. Retrieved from http://cepr.net/documents/publications/paid-family-leave-1-2011.pdf