Family and workplace dynamics have changed significantly over recent years, which is why we need to reimagine working parenthood and come together to make paid leave possible for all working parents and parents-to-be. To further amplify conversations around paid leave, we wanted to take a deeper look at existing PFL programs and give each state a grade. Here’s an overview of the metrics and scoring methodology of our PFL analysis.
On top of PFL programs being complex to manage, existing programs are still lacking and don’t offer anything close to full pay. It’s estimated that a typical worker will lose more than $9,500 in lost wages to take 12 leave without pay, and this is even if the employee is able to take parental leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) only provides unpaid leave to about 56 percent of the workforce.
As a quick recap, only nine states plus Washington D.C. currently have state mandated Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs that are funded mostly by employee payroll taxes. Here are the available PFL programs across the country for the analysis.
We wanted to compare as much data across PFL programs as possible to get a better idea of what these programs look like realistically. We started with easy to find information, such as weekly benefit rates and how many weeks available, and then we dug deeper and looked at actual payouts and what this looked like across average salaries in each state. While we couldn’t find all the information easily, especially since DC is not considered a state and didn’t have the same data sets, we were able to pull these metrics for a primary assessment for each state:
Weeks of PFL (parental leave only) - As a starting point, we compared available weeks. Since some programs separate disability and PFL, we only looked at the weeks available for parental leave only.
Statutory PFL Maximum Weekly Benefit Award (WBA) - Another easy metric is to compare the maximum WBA in each state’s program. The WBA is the capped amount, that no matter the percentage of pay, this is the maximum awarded per week.
Average Weekly Payouts - New America: Paid Leave Benefits and Funding in the United States had a great start by analyzing maximum benefit rates across PFL programs using the average minimum wage and average weekly wages to calculate paid leave. but the problem is that most PFL recipients do not receive that maximum rate. We located the actual PFL utilization reports by state to identify the average weekly payouts awarded.
Average PFL Weeks Taken - This is another metric we wanted to integrate since the average weeks of PFL taken were lower than what was available. This ties back to how little PFL actually pays, especially for high wage earners, and that parental leave may not be taken with PFL.
Salary when maximum WBA is reached - This is another calculation that identifies the annual salary when the maximum weekly benefit award is reached. Since every state has a different percentage of benefits, this is a way to look at what PFL is actually providing compared to average salaries in the state.
Average salary in state - Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we identified average salary in state so we could compare to the salary when maximum WBA is reached.
Available paid time for birthing parents (total) - Besides just looking at PFL, we looked at the average paid time available for birthing parents that included any state disability programs. This does not include any private Short Term Disability (STD) plans, only state-mandated disability programs.
WBA is what percentage of average annual salary in state - Using the average annual salary, we also compared the maximum WBA for total weeks available. This allowed us to see if someone received the most PFL, what percentage of the average annual salary in the state would be.
Actual PFL usage is what percentage of average annual salary in state - Similarly, we took the actual PFL usage and calculated the percentage of annual average salary to get a realistic idea of what this really looks like.
PFL Payouts is what percentage for average weekly salary in state - We also looked at the percentage of average weekly salary that average PFL payouts are.
PFL weeks taken is what percentage of total weeks available in state - And lastly, we compared the percentage of PFL weeks taken compared to the total weeks available in the state.
Other Metrics for Parento’s PFL Analysis
In addition to the metrics identified above, here are a few more that we used to “tip the scales” for the results, if needed.
Now that you’re familiar with the metrics and methodology for Parento’s PFL Analysis, check out how we graded each state’s PFL program next. The PFL Analysis is part of Parento’s Working Family Scorecard to provide a comprehensive look at how each state is really supporting working families. The results may surprise you, so stay tuned!
