A report released today by the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) estimates the impact of the Healthy Families Act, which would provide workers in businesses with 15+ employees a minimum paid sick leave requirement of seven days per year.

The estimates:

• As a result of the Healthy Families Act, at least 30.3 million additional workers would have access to paid sick leave.

• Almost half of the increased access to paid sick leave (14.7 million additional workers) would accrue to workers in the bottom wage quartile;

• Nearly half (13.3 million workers) of the increased access to paid sick leave would accrue to women workers; and,

• Almost one-third of the increased access to paid sick leave would accrue to minority workers, including 3.9 million additional African-American workers and 5.6 million additional Latino workers.

The Healthy Families Act would also significantly expand access to paid sick leave for workers in professions with critical public health implications. For instance, 5.9 million additional food service and preparation workers would have access to paid sick leave due to the Healthy Families Act.

Read more from the JEC website | Find out more about the Healthy Families Act from EOI