Paid Family Leave In California: New Research Findings (2004)

Date Published: 
Sun, 08/01/2004

Ruth Milkman and Eileen Appelbaum. The State of California Labor. August 2004.

This study looks at paid family leave in California a mere two years after passage of the policy. They find that white collar and unionized workplaces are more likely to offer family leave time beyond that required by law. Larger firms are also more likely to offer extensive family leave. In the previous year, only 6.3 percent of employers reported that their workers took maternity or other family or medical leave.

At this point, businesses were still concerned about the potential costs of the bill, but as later studies show, their fears were not realized.