Factors influencing the decline in paid parental leave in New Hampshire, 2016-2024

• In Event: Paid Leave Across the States: Access, Utilization, and Employment Outcomes

Abstract

Access to paid family and medical leave is a critical work support for working families.  Research shows that those with paid leave are more able to balance their work and family obligations.  Specifically, parental leave allows parents to take time away from work at the time of the birth of their child and in the subsequent weeks while caring for a newborn.  Paid leave improves mothers’ labor force outcomes, such as increased employment, job retention, and long-term labor market attachment (Byker 2016).  The effect of paid leave for fathers is more modest (Bartell et al, 2018).

Because the United States does not have a federal paid family and medical leave policy, states are left to consider legislation.  Several states have enacted comprehensive paid family and medical leave programs.  New Hampshire is not among those states, but has chosen a different path.  NH enacted a voluntary paid family leave program, contracting with the insurance company MetLife to offer paid family and medical leave as an insurance product.  Businesses can opt into the program and individual workers can opt into the program if their employer does not offer paid leave for these reasons.

Overall, in the United States, access to paid parental leave has been increasing. Yet, disparities exists in who has access, with women, and workers with lower education, lower earnings all having lower access (Smith, 2026). Yet, our preliminary analysis shows that New Hampshire workers’ access to parental leave is moving in the opposite direction.  In December 2024, 38 percent had paid parental leave benefits to care for a new child, down from 50 percent in 2016, a decrease of 12 percentage points (Figure 1). Meanwhile, access to paid medical leave and paid family leave have not experienced this same level of decline.

In this paper, we interrogate the reasons for the decline in workers’ access to paid parental leave in New Hampshire from 2016 to 2024 using the Granite State Poll.  The GSP provides a statewide representative sample of approximately 500–750 households and collects demographic, economic, and employment information. The first author developed the Paid Leave Topical Modules that were added to the GSP. In this paper we focus on the decline in respondents who answered “yes” to having paid parental leave to care for a newborn or adopted child.

Separate analyses indicate that paid parental leave benefits declined among workers with less than a college degree, from 52 percent in 2016 to 25 percent in 2024. Women and workers in small businesses also experienced declines. This paper first establishes the characteristics of workers with paid parental leave using logistic regression analysis, and then examines the factors contributing to the decline from 2016 to 2024.

Author

• KRISTIN SMITH, Dartmouth College
  Presenting Author