State paid family leave and healthcare utilization for infants

• In Event: Physician Pathways under Policy Shift: Capital, Care, and Career Moves

Abstract

In the absence of federal paid family leave (PFL) policies in the United States, parents—disproportionately those from low-income and marginalized communities—face significant barriers to timely healthcare visits for vaccinations, developmental screenings and early disease detection for their new-born. We estimate the causal effect of state-PFL policies on infant health outcomes using quasi-experimental variation in policy adoption (1990–2020). We use staggered difference-in-differences model on hospitalization costs data to examine whether implementation of paid leave policies reduce infant hospitalization rates, preventable admissions and infant mortality. Preliminary estimates show that PFL policies potentially avert $3200 in annual hospitalization cost. Dynamic event-study models test heterogeneous impacts, particularly for Medicaid/low-income infants. Findings demonstrate how PFL improves healthcare utilization and infant health equity, reducing expenditure and health disparities.

Authors

• Raka Datta, Georgia State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• GODWIN AIPOH, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author