How New Yorkers used PFL in 2018

February 26, 2019

January 2019 marked the first anniversary of New York Paid Family Leave (PFL).  In honor of the new law being in effect for a full year now, we wanted to share an inside look on how New Yorkers used PFL in its inaugural year.

While it’s not surprising that 76.7% of our PFL claims received were for bonding leave in 2018, here’s how it breaks down for all three leave types:

Since the majority of our claims are for bonding, let’s first dig deeper into those numbers:

• 72% of bonding claims were from moms vs. 28% from dads.
  • This is right in line with the bonding numbers for fathers we saw back in June 2018! (27%)
• Moms tend to bond longer than dads: average claim duration for moms was 7 weeks vs. 4.5 weeks for dads.
• 14% of our bonding claims in 2018 were for 2017 births.
  • Moms used this option more than dads – 79% of these “catch up claims” were from moms.

Interestingly, if we take a look at the numbers for our caregiver claims, we see a similar split by gender as for bonding: 73% of them were from women.  However, the average duration for caregiving claims was about 4 weeks for both women and men.

While the 2018 maximum duration was 8 weeks, the overall average Paid Family Leave claim duration clocked in at a little less than 6 weeks, showing that New Yorkers on average did not max out on the amount of leave available to them.It will be interesting to see how this develops over the course of 2019 as the maximum duration is now set at 10 weeks.

We will continue to monitor these trends as PFL matures over the next few years.  Make sure you SIGN-UP for updates so you don’t miss what interesting PFL facts we uncover next!

Have questions about Paid Family Leave?  Email your PFL experts anytime at: pflquestions@shelterpoint.com. 

This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel. Please consult with an appropriate professional for legal and compliance advice. Any PFL information is as of the blog post’s date stamp; it is based on the applicable statutes and regulation,  and may change as regulations evolve or NY State issues guidance regarding Paid Family Leave regulations. Have more questions? Email us at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com