Access to paid sick leave reduces COVID-19 spread

Treating the introduction of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act as a natural experiment, a new paper in Health Affairs examines whether the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases declines in states after the introduction of the FFCRA’s paid sick leave components, compared with cases in states where workers already had paid sick leave. The authors find that after controlling for a host of state level characteristics and policies (including different COVID-testing environments and stay at home orders), states with new access to paid leave realized 400 fewer cases of COVID-19 per day, suggesting that allowing workers to stay home (with pay) when sick is effective at reducing viral spread. #workforce #covid-19