The Impacts of New York State's Paid Family Leave Policy on Parents' Sleep and Exercise

ObjectivesTo assess changes in young parents' health behaviors following implementation of New York State's Paid Family Leave Program (NYSPFL).MethodsWe used synthetic control (N = 117,552) and difference-in-differences (N = 18,973) models with data from the nationally representative Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2011 to 2019 to provide individual-level estimates of the effects of NYSPFL on self-reported exercise in the past month and average daily sleep of adults aged 21-30 years living with one or more children under 18 years of age in New York and comparison states.ResultsSynthetic control model results indicate that the NYSPFL increased the likelihood of exercise in the past month among mothers, single parents, and low-income parents by 6.3-10.3% points (pp), whereas fathers showed a decrease in exercise (7.8 pp). Fathers, single parents, and those with two or more children showed increases in daily sleep between 14 and 21 min per day.Conclusions for practiceState paid family and medical leave laws may provide benefits for health behaviors among young parents with children under 18, particularly those in low-income and single-parent households. What is already known on this subject?Prior research indicates that state paid family and medical leave programs benefit parents' and children's health, although their effects on health behaviors like sleep and exercise among those most likely to benefit remains unclear.What this study adds?This study examines how New York State's recently implemented paid family and medical leave law affects sleep and exercise among young parents with children, and how these effects vary by income, gender, and income.