More men among New Yorkers taking paid family leave, state officials say

A record number of New Yorkers, including more men, took advantage of paid family leave in 2021 to bond with their children or help a seriously ill family member, the governor's office said Friday. State officials said that since New York began providing leave coverage to more than 7.5 million workers, some 543,000 family leave claims have been paid in the first four years alone — with a record 146,708 claims in 2021.

The state said 21,516 of those claims were on Long Island, 44,203 in New York City.

Statistics show while men accounted for 25,674, or 30.7%, of claims statewide in 2018, those numbers have steadily increased — with 33,732 in 2019, 35,860 in 2020 and 40,477, or 38.2%, filed in 2021. Paid family leave usage was highest with low- and moderate-wage workers, the state found, with the highest usage rates in 2018, 2019 and 2020 among workers earning less than $40,000 a year.

In 2021, the highest usage was for workers with incomes between $40,000 and $60,000 annually, the state said.

"No one should have to chose between caring for a loved one and a paycheck, and today's findings demonstrate how critical paid family leave is, especially for working-class New Yorkers," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Friday.

"This Father's Day, I am especially heartened to see that men have so enthusiastically taken advantage of this benefit to care for and bond with their children and that more of them are using paid family leave every year."

Officials at Northwell Health, which owns and operates 21 hospitals and has more than 79,000 employees, most based in the Long Island-metro area, said they'd seen an "uptick" in paid paternity leave, as well — especially among new fathers.

"As New York State's largest employer," Northwell senior vice president Maxine Carrington said, "Northwell remains focused on allowing mothers and fathers on our team to be fully engaged with their children when they are born. We believe this time to bond improves the well-being of the child, the parents and entire family unit."

The state found that during COVID the number of workers using paid family leave to care for ill family members also increased, with 27.8% of claims used to care for a sick family member, often a sick parent. The average time-off taken also has increased each year, the state said — from 5.5 weeks in 2018 to 7.7 weeks in 2021.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”