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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