“When women do better, families do better. Yet every day, women across the country are forced to choose between their family’s health and their paychecks because their jobs don’t allow them to earn paid sick days,” said Debra Ness, president of National Partnership for Women & Families.

When he moves into the governor’s mansion next month, Connecticut will be poised to become the first state to enact legislation allowing workers to earn paid sick days, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington, D.C.

“This study has important implications for the nation’s economy,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. “With unemployment so high and job searches taking so long, greater access to earned paid sick days will help ensure that workers won’t lose their jobs if they get sick or a child needs care.”

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, about 55 percent of U.S. workers don’t have paid sick days.

Debra Ness, who is president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, says there’s growing recognition that paid sick leave benefits employers, as well as employees.

“Health reform was a giant step forward, but working people need to be able to access health care,” said Debra Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women and Families. “The best system in the world does no good to a worker who can’t take time off to visit a doctor or get a test.”

Nearly half of all non-government workers — and 79% of low-income workers — don’t get paid sick days, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families.

“The flu epidemic really brings into sharp relief the kind of strain that this is putting on families,” says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.

“On the one hand, you have all of our top officials saying, ‘Do the responsible thing: If you’re sick, stay home,'” Debra Ness told CNNMoney.com.