More Californians Take Paid Leave To Bond With Children Than For Caregiving

California’s Paid Family Leave program, the first in the country, took effect in 2004. The program, which is funded by employees through payroll deductions, allows them to take paid time off to care for a new child or sick relative.

Since it began, some 2.65 million Californians have made about 2.8 million paid-leave claims. Nearly 90 percent of the claims were filed by mothers and fathers using the benefit to bond with new biological, adopted or foster children, according to the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD), which administers the program.

Fewer than one-eighth of the claims have been to care for seriously ill children, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, spouses or registered domestic partners.

For more, read Emily Bazar’s “Family Crisis Or New Joy? Get Paid Time Off For It.”

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<h1>More Californians Take Paid Leave To Bond With Children Than For Caregiving</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2018-02-02T02:00:52-08:00">
			February 2, 2018		</time>
		</div>
<p>California’s Paid Family Leave program, the first in the country, took effect in 2004. The program, which is funded by employees through payroll deductions, allows them to take paid time off to care for a new child or sick relative.</p><p>Since it began, some 2.65 million Californians have made about 2.8 million paid-leave claims. Nearly 90 percent of the claims were filed by mothers and fathers using the benefit to bond with new biological, adopted or foster children, according to the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD), which administers the program.</p><p>Fewer than one-eighth of the claims have been to care for seriously ill children, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, spouses or registered domestic partners.</p><p>For more, read Emily Bazar’s “<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/family-crisis-or-new-joy-get-paid-time-off-for-it/">Family Crisis Or New Joy? Get Paid Time Off For It</a>.”</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/multimedia/more-californians-take-paid-leave-to-bond-with-children-than-for-caregiving/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/multimedia/more-californians-take-paid-leave-to-bond-with-children-than-for-caregiving/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/multimedia/more-californians-take-paid-leave-to-bond-with-children-than-for-caregiving/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20More%20Californians%20Take%20Paid%20Leave%20To%20Bond%20With%20Children%20Than%20For%20Caregiving&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2FMjY3Mjk2&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/multimedia/more-californians-take-paid-leave-to-bond-with-children-than-for-caregiving/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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