The Effects of Paid-Sick-Leave Mandates on Care Provision

The U.S. paid-sick-leave (PSL) mandates allow private-sector workers to take time off for their own or family members' illnesses. However, the impacts of these laws on workers' care seeking and provision activities are relatively understudied. We address this gap by exploiting cross-state variation in mandate enactment between 2012 and 2019. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, our difference-in-differences estimates show little evidence that PSL mandates affect the probability of spending time on overall care provision at the population level. However, we find a positive association between the mandates and care provided to adults by workers in industries with larger exposure to the policies. Our results provide empirical support for the potential of paid leave policies to help workers who otherwise have limited access to the benefit reconcile workplace responsibilities and caregiving.