Skip to main content
Statement

STATEMENT OF Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director, CEO, and Co-Founder, MomsRising on New Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey

August 20, 2012
Paid Sick Days

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

New Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Shows Need for Paid Sick Leave, Other Laws to Support Families, Says Leading Advocate for Moms and Families
“There’s good news and bad news in the American Time Use Survey released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week. The good news is that more people are able to access and use paid leave, which is good for our nation’s families. The bad news is that it’s still the case that people in low-wage jobs, particularly women, often don’t have access to paid leave.
 
“When people don’t have access to paid sick days, we all pay the price. According to Adriana Kugler, Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, when people don’t have paid sick days, they’re much more likely to use the emergency room, which increases health care costs for our nation as a whole. They’re also more likely than people who do have paid sick days to show up to work sick, where they’re less productive than they would be if there were healthy and where they can make their co-workers sick. That can cost employers about $160 billion annually.
 
“MomsRising and our more than one million members have been working to increase access to paid sick days. We have collected and shared with lawmakers hundreds of stories about the need for paid sick days. We are actively participating in paid sick days campaigns in New York City, Orange County, Florida and Massachusetts, and were instrumental in helping to pass paid sick days laws in Seattle and Connecticut.
 
“Fifty-five million workers in our country still don’t have access to paid sick days and we plan to continue to fight until everyone who needs to take a day off because she or he is sick or needs to care for a sick family member can do so. Your ability to take that kind of time off of work shouldn’t rely on how much money you earn. Paid sick days policies are good for everyone.”
 

# # # #

MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.