The period immediately following birth is a crucial time for both baby and parents. As newborns establish their foundations in the world, mom and dad acclimate to their roles as parents. Building that special bond doesn’t happen overnight but, when given the proper time, the benefits of bonding can be far-reaching.
How Does NY Paid Family Leave Help Bonding With Baby?
Paid Family Leave helps make bonding an opportunity for more parents throughout New York by helping ease the financial concerns many parents feel about returning to work quickly after their child is born, or concerns about losing jobs or halting careers. Having partial pay and job protection can help parents take time off while earning some of their paycheck after baby comes.
We’ve already heard first-hand from moms Stephanie and Sheeja about how Paid Family Leave has helped them in those critical few months. But, we’ve also seen research indicate it has a pretty important impact on the health and wellness of baby too!
How Many People Took NY Paid Family Leave to Bond With Their Baby in 2018?
As we saw earlier this year, 76.7% of our Paid Family Leave (PFL) claims in 2018 were for bonding. Meaning, many New York parents took the opportunity to bond with their new baby in PFL’s first year – over 11,500 through ShelterPoint alone!
Let’s look at how those numbers compare between moms and dads:
- 72% of our bonding claims were from moms vs.28% from dads.
- Moms tend to bond longer than dads: average claim duration for moms was 7 work weeks vs. 4.5 work weeks for dads.
And, their claim duration broke down as follows*:
- Moms – only about a quarter of moms took less than 7 weeks, with the clear majority having taken 7+ weeks:
- 1% took less than 1 work week
- 2% took 1-2 work weeks
- 2% took 2-3 work weeks
- 3% took 3-4 work weeks
- 4% took 4-5 work weeks
- 5% took 5-6 work weeks
- 7% took 6-7 work weeks
- 74% took 7-8 work weeks
- Dads – bonding leave durations are more scattered among dads:
- 7% took less than 1 work week
- 18% took 1-2 work weeks
- 15% took 2-3 work weeks
- 11% took 3-4 work weeks
- 9% took 4-5 work weeks
- 5% took 5-6 work weeks
- 4% took 6-7 work weeks
- 30% took 7-8 work weeks
We are interested to see how these numbers will compare to 2019 (and beyond) as the benefit duration increases. Right now, it’s just too early to tell, but, stay-tuned, we’ll update these numbers each year!
Want to see more insights into our 2018 claim data – not just bonding numbers?
Check out this infographic!
While NY Paid Family Leave doesn’t solve all of the problems parents face when it comes to balancing the rigors of work and parenthood, it goes a long way to help build a solid foundation with baby from the very beginning.
*Based on claimants work week. The average work week in 2018 for ShelterPoint claimants was 4.8. Information in this material is based on ShelterPoint Life’s proprietary claim data in 2018
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