Ungated Post | 22 Sep 2020
Paid Leave in America: An economic overview
A comprehensive overview of paid leave offerings and usage in the United States is surprisingly hard to come by. To shed light on this important topic, Oxford Economics and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) surveyed over 1,000 human resource (HR) managers within SHRM’s membership across the United States and more than 500 senior executives in the US drawn from outside SHRM’s membership. We also conducted three in-depth interviews with senior HR executives.
This report details the findings from our research, including statistics about paid leave offerings and usage, insights into the motivations of employers considering various paid leave policies, and perceptions about the value and cost of providing these benefits. The survey results also allow us to estimate how frequently employees use these programs and for how long. By examining the actual experience of employers that offer these benefits, we are able to provide estimates of what paid leave benefits would cost if mandated at the national level.
The survey results and analytics presented in this report were completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and our report does not specifically address the role of paid sick leave. While our government’s policy responses are rapidly evolving, the role of paid leave is an important part of the national conversation. Our report likely will not inform the immediate response of our government to the current crisis, but hopefully will help guide a more informed discussion about the role of paid family leave in the longer term.
Our economic consulting and thought leadership teams are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis and original, evidence-based research, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets, run extensive surveys, and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were:
Oxford Economics’ team is expert at applying advanced economic tools that provide valuable insights into today’s most pressing business, financial, and policy issues.
To find out more about our capabilities, contact:
EMEA
Paul Donnelly
020 3910 8000
Email
Americas
Jeffrey Klonoski
+1 646 503 3048
Email
Asia
Christie Tang
+852 3974 8841
Email
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