“I probably shouldn’t go in today”: Inequitable access to paid sick leave and its impacts on health behaviors during the emergence of COVID-19 in the Seattle area

Chidozie D Iwu, Sarah N Cox, Sarah L Sohlberg, Ashley E Kim, Jennifer Logue, Peter D Han, Thomas R Sibley, Misja Ilcisin, Kairsten A Fay, Jover Lee, Denise J McCulloch, Yongzhe Wang, Michael Boeckh, Janet A Englund, Lea M Starita, Anjum Hajat and Helen Y Chu

PLOS ONE, 2024, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: This study examines inequities in access to paid sick leave (PSL) by race/ethnicity, income, and sex and the role of PSL access on leave-taking and care-seeking behaviors among Seattle-area workers in the months leading up to and during the emergence of COVID-19 in the region. Survey responses were collected online and in-person from individuals experiencing acute respiratory illness symptoms between November 2019 and March 2020 as part of a community-based respiratory viral surveillance study. Chi-square tests and log-binomial models were used to assess the association between PSL access and various socioeconomic indicators. A total of 66.6% (n = 2,276) respondents reported access to PSL. Proportionally, access to PSL was highest in respondents identifying as Asian (70.5%), followed by White (68.7%), Latine (58.4%), Multiracial (57.1%), Black (47.1%), and Other (43.1%). Access to PSL increased with household income. Eighty three percent of high-income respondents reported access compared to 52.9% of low-income households. Only 23.3% of the lowest-income households reported access to PSL. Fewer females (65.2%) than males (70.7%) reported access to PSL. Access to PSL is inequitably distributed across income, race/ethnicity, and sex. This study reinforces the vast body of knowledge on how socioeconomic inequalities increase individual and community-level vulnerability to the impacts of infectious disease outbreaks. It also supports the role of labor and economic policy in mitigating (or exacerbating) these impacts. Exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, universal access to PSL, especially for marginalized populations, benefits all.

Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0307734

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307734

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