The effects of state paid sick leave mandates on parental childcare time

The U.S. lacks a federal paid sick leave policy. To date, 18 states and the District of Columbia have adopted or announced paid sick leave mandates that require employers to provide up to seven days of paid leave per year that can be used for family responsibilities and healthcare. Using time diaries from the 2004-2023 American Time Use Survey and difference-in-differences methods, we estimate the effects of these state paid sick leave mandates on parents' time spent providing childcare. We find that post-mandate, parental time spent providing primary childcare time increases by 5.8%, with effects being driven by women with younger children. Parents also increase their total time with children by 3.4%, and fathers living with school-aged children only increase their time supervising children while participating in leisure activities by 11.9%. Overall, our findings suggest that paid sick leave mandates allow working parents to better balance work and childcare responsibilities.