Abstract
Background
The availability of paid sick days (PSD) is on the forefront of policy issues relating
to women's health and well-being. Previous research regarding PSD and other forms
of family–work balance legislation has linked access to paid time off from work for
addressing one's own or another's health concerns to a range of health benefits for
working women and their families. In general, public support for such policies is
high, but little work has tested the extent to which support extends to PSD. Researchers
have yet to engage in a rigorous statistical analysis of public opinion on PSD, including
whether opinion varies by gender.
Methods
Using data from a 2013 poll of adults in New Jersey (n = 925), we bridged this research gap by conducting the first multivariate analysis
of public attitudes toward PSD.
Results
As expected, we found markedly high levels of support for PSD across all respondents,
with a preponderance of most sociodemographic categories supporting proposed PSD legislation
in New Jersey. We also found that gender was a strong predictor of support for PSD,
with women significantly (odds ratio, 1.916; p ≤ .01) more likely than men to be in favor of such legislation.
Conclusions
We discuss the implications of our findings for future work on PSD as well as for
research concerning women, wellness, and work-life legislation more broadly.
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Biography
Danielle J. Lindemann is Assistant Research Professor and Research Director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. She has research interests in gender, sexuality, work, and culture.
Biography
Linda Houser is an Assistant Professor and Doctoral Program Director at Widener University's Center for Social Work Education. Her research focuses on public policy in the areas of employment, caregiving, health, and economic security.
Biography
Karen White is Director of the Working Families Program at the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Her focus is on how research informs policy, particularly policies that affect working women and their families.
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 18,
2015
Received in revised form:
March 11,
2015
Received:
October 17,
2014
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
