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Unequal use of social insurance benefits: The role of employers

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  • Bana, Sarah
  • Bedard, Kelly
  • Rossin-Slater, Maya
  • Stearns, Jenna

Abstract

Disability Insurance (DI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs are important sources of social insurance, but there is considerable inequality in benefit take-up, and little is known about the role of firms in determining benefit use. Using administrative data from California, we find that firms that pay higher earnings premiums also have substantially higher public DI and PFL take-up rates, and that this relationship is particularly strong among the lowest-earning workers within the firm. Our results suggest that changes in firm behavior may impact social insurance use, thus reducing an important dimension of inequality in America.

Suggested Citation

  • Bana, Sarah & Bedard, Kelly & Rossin-Slater, Maya & Stearns, Jenna, 2023. "Unequal use of social insurance benefits: The role of employers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 633-660.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:233:y:2023:i:2:p:633-660
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2022.02.008
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    Cited by:

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    2. Brenøe, Anne Ardila & Canaan, Serena & Harmon, Nikolaj & Royer, Heather, 2019. "Is Parental Leave Costly for Firms and Coworkers?," IZA Discussion Papers 12870, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Sarah H. Bana & Kelly Bedard & Maya Rossin‐Slater, 2020. "The Impacts of Paid Family Leave Benefits: Regression Kink Evidence from California Administrative Data," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(4), pages 888-929, September.
    4. Schmutte, Ian M. & Skira, Meghan M., 2020. "The Response of Firms to Maternity Leave and Sickness Absence," GLO Discussion Paper Series 691, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Bonacini, Luca & Patriarca, Fabrizio & Santoni, Edoardo, 2024. "Background wage premia, beyond education: firm sorting and unobserved abilities," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1459, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Slopen, Meredith, 2023. "The impact of paid sick leave mandates on women's health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    7. Ann P. Bartel & Maya Rossin-Slater & Christopher J. Ruhm & Meredith Slopen & Jane Waldfogel, 2021. "The Impact of Paid Family Leave on Employers: Evidence from New York," NBER Working Papers 28672, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Claudia Goldin & Sari Pekkala Kerr & Claudia Olivetti, 2020. "Why Firms Offer Paid Parental Leave: An Exploratory Study," NBER Working Papers 26617, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Pawe{l} Gola & Yuejun Zhao, 2024. "A Firm Link: Overall, Between- and Within-Firm Inequality Through the Lens of a Sorting Model," Papers 2410.11532, arXiv.org.
    10. Lachowska, Marta & Mas, Alexandre & Saggio, Raffaele & Woodbury, Stephen A., 2023. "Do firm effects drift? Evidence from Washington administrative data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 375-395.
    11. Jason Sockin, 2022. "Show Me the Amenity: Are Higher-Paying Firms Better All Around?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9842, CESifo.
    12. Biro, Aniko & Boza, István & Gyetvai, Attila & Prinz, Daniel, 2024. "Health Shocks, Social Insurance, and Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 17069, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Disability Insurance; Paid family Leave; Social insurance; Firm premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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