More than 500 state employees have taken paid parental leave since signing of executive order
KANSAS CITY — The Women's Foundation is celebrating the one-year anniversary since the state of Kansas implemented paid family leave for state employees. Since Kansas instituted the policy in November 2018, 502 state employees have taken paid parental leave, with that number equally divided among women and men.
Last year, Kansas joined 14 states and the District of Columbia that provide paid parental leave to all or some of their workforce: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.
“Paid family leave has real and far-reaching benefits for families and businesses,” Wendy Doyle, Women’s Foundation President & CEO, said. “Allowing people to care for children and loved-ones without sacrificing their income is a win-win – strengthening families, strengthening businesses, and growing the economy. We thank Governor Laura Kelly for continuing this commonsense and fiscally responsible policy that’s making a positive impact for families across the Sunflower State.”
“Our state employees work tirelessly to provide the quality public services Kansas taxpayers deserve. We've seen firsthand how paid family leave makes for a more productive, efficient state workforce that benefits all Kansans,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “We're proud to be continuing a policy that has such tremendous benefits for state workers and their families while also benefiting taxpayers.”
Women’s Foundation research, commissioned in partnership with the University of Missouri Institute of Public Policy, found that paid family leave programs prevent families from falling into poverty, reduce reliance on public assistance, recruit and retain talented employees, and increase worker productivity.
Expanding access to paid leave has been a top priority of the Women’s Foundation, which has worked with policymakers in both Kansas and Missouri to provide research on the benefits of paid family and medical leave.
The Women’s Foundation’s Paid Leave Policy Research Brief is available here.
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