Economic Impact Research Plan for Family and Medical Leave in DC

Abstract

[Excerpt] The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) was awarded a contract from the District of Columbia for research that explores that costs and benefits of paid family leave and the feasibility of expanding coverage of access to paid leave under a grant received from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and Employment and Training Administration. The research will include three major components: Actuarial analyses employing statistical models to estimate future usage and durations of leave that workers might take under selected policy plans. The estimates of workers’ leave taking and the characteristics of the leaves are a primary input into the other two components. Economic impact analyses will examine the effect of leave taking on employers, workers, workers’ families, and the community. Cost-Benefit analysis combining the costs and benefits of potential paid leave program designs on for a given time frame and using methods to render choices as comparable as possible for comparative evaluation.