Paid sick leave doesn’t just save worker’s wallets. It also saves their lives, a new study suggests.
Cities, counties, and states that legally require employers to provide paid sick leave for workers have lower death rates than those that do not, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Data suggests that where employers are required by law to offer paid sick leave, there are fewer suicides and homicides in working-age men and fewer homicides and alcohol-related deaths in working-age women.
The research team analyzed data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1999 through 2019 on deaths per county in people aged 24 to 65, then used statistical analysis to determine the correlation between mortality and paid leave statuses.
Shockingly, they found that for each additional hour of paid sick time, there was a notable reduction in instances of suicide and homicide for men and homicide and alcohol-related deaths for women.
In fact, the research team discovered that in Orange County in Florida, and in Bexar, Dallas, and Travis counties in Texas — counties where paid sick leave was attempted but then preempted by state governments — mortality rates would have been 7.5% lower among working-age individuals had the states not roadblocked paid sick time.
“State preemption laws that protect profits over people may be shortening the lives of working-age Americans,” study co-author Jennifer Karas Montez, Ph.D., ...
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