Worker Access to Paid Leave Benefits in the United States

In the United States, 76 percent of workers have access to paid sick leave through their employers. The same share has access to paid vacation (76%) and a slightly higher share have paid holidays (78%). This access varies between the public and private sectors. In private industry, 73 percent of workers have access to paid sick leave and four out of five workers have access to paid vacation and paid holidays. Among state and local government employees, access to paid sick leave (91%) far outweighs access to paid vacation and holidays (61% and 68%, respectively).

These figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey, which includes very little detail at the sub-national level. Oregon is grouped with the Pacific West region, which includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. Access to paid leave benefits is a bit more widespread in this area of the country compared with the national average. Nine out of 10 workers in the Pacific West region have access to paid sick leave. Pacific West workers are also more likely to have access to paid holidays (80%) and to paid vacation (80%) than the national average.

Nationally, workers with the lowest wages also have the least access to paid leave benefits through their employers. Access to paid sick leave has a direct positive relationship with earnings, with each step up in earnings quartile matched by improved access to paid sick leave. In contrast, for paid vacation and paid holidays, this relationship only holds for the shift between the third quartile, with the highest quartile of earners having about as much access to paid vacation and paid holidays as the second 25 percent.

The size of the employer also influences the availability of paid leave benefits. This is especially true in the private sector, while public-sector workers have a tighter range based on employer size. In the private sector, access to paid vacation and holidays improves as the employer size increases – workers at large employers are more likely to have access to these paid leaves than workers at smaller employers. In the public sector, there’s little variation in the availability of paid vacation and holidays by size; workers at smaller government establishments are about as likely as workers at the largest government establishments to be able to enjoy these forms of paid leave.

Overall, it is access to paid sick leave that varies the most by employer size. Sixty-four percent of the workforce of the smallest employers – those with fewer than 50 employees – have access to paid sick leave, while 91 percent of workers at large employers with more than 500 workers have access to paid sick leave. Among the private-sector workforce, access to paid sick leave ranges from 64 percent of workers at the smallest employers to 89 percent of workers at the largest employers. Among the public-sector workforce, 85 percent of workers at the smallest employers had paid sick leave, compared with 93 percent of workers at the largest employers.

In the United States, most workers have access to at least some paid leave through their employers. This access improves with full-time work and access is the greatest for the high-wage workforce and the workforce of large employers.


To learn more, read economist Jessica Nelson's full article here.