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Vicki Shabo

Nation’s First State Paid Leave Program Turns 10 – Here’s to Many More Decades of Success for Workers, Families and Businesses

| Sep 30, 2012

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Last weekend marked a decade since California enacted its groundbreaking state paid family leave insurance program – the first in the nation. In honor of this anniversary, researchers at the University of Santa Barbara took a look at the program’s impact on the state’s families, businesses and economy. As Californians who have used the program to care for a new child or an ill loved one know, it is a huge success.

According to the report, Ten Years of the California Paid Family Leave Program: Strengthening Commitment to Work, Affirming Commitment to Family, California’s paid leave insurance program has been used more than one million times – most commonly for bonding with a new child. The result has been positive health and economic outcomes for families and positive results for businesses.

For example, the analysis shows that mothers in lower quality jobs who used the state’s paid leave program were able to breastfeed for twice as long as those who did not. Breastfeeding is known to decrease the risk of disease for both mothers and infants.

The program has allowed new fathers to care for their children without sacrificing their economic security. In the past three years, use of the paid leave program among new fathers has increased by six percent. This is critical at a time when the majority of families are increasingly dependent on two incomes.

The benefits experienced by California businesses have also been significant. Women who returned to their jobs after taking paid leave through the state’s program increased their working hours by six to nine percent. And because the program is funded through employee contributions, there have been zero direct costs for employers.

Despite the overwhelmingly positive outcomes for workers and businesses, the report also recognizes that there are areas for improvement. Too many Californians still don’t know about the program, and many low-income workers – even though they pay into the program – can’t afford to use it because they can’t make ends meet with the level of wage replacement (55 percent of wages) it provides.

So there’s much to celebrate at this anniversary, but there’s also work to do – in California and throughout the country.

California’s program means that more workers are able to take the time they need to care for their new children or ailing loved ones. But, for the majority of workers in the United States, caregiving leave without financial worry is out of reach. With the success of California’s program – and a similar one in New Jersey – as our guide, it’s time for Congress to establish a national paid family and medical leave insurance program that nearly all workers will be able to use at some point in their lives.

The ability to take care of one’s health and family should not depend on geography. California continues to show us that success is possible and benefits are far-reaching. It’s time for the entire country to follow the Golden State’s lead.

About the Author

Vicki Shabo

Vicki Shabo

Vicki Shabo is vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families and is one of the nation's leading experts on paid family and medical leave, paid sick days and the workplace policy advocacy landscape. She previously served for more than four years as the organization's director of work and family programs. Shabo is responsible for the strategic direction of the National Partnership’s work to promote fair and family friendly workplaces and leads the organization’s work on paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, expansion and enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act, workplace flexibility, fair pay and pregnancy discrimination. She serves as a contact on workplace policy issues for key national allies, researchers, businesses and state and local advocates and has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, USA Today, CNN and MSNBC, among other outlets.

Shabo brings a unique background in law and politics to her work: Prior to joining the National Partnership in 2010, she practiced law in the litigation department at WilmerHale, a large international law firm. Before embarking on a legal career, she worked with both Celinda Lake and Harrison Hickman, serving as a pollster and political strategist to political candidates, ballot campaigns, advocacy organizations and media outlets. Through this work, she developed research and communications expertise on issues of particular concern to women. Shabo's earlier professional experience includes a stint with the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

Shabo graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and American studies from Pomona College, and holds a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Michigan. She earned her law degree with high honors from the University of North Carolina, where she served as editor in chief of the North Carolina Law Review. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Michael R. Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Salt Lake City.

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