Projects
Family and Medical Leave
In 1999, the Institute conducted a mail survey of a random sample of New York State residents concerning work and family benefits and the Family and Medical Leave Act. The results indicated a growing need for family and medical leave among dual-wage earning and single parent families in New York State.
Research has shown that many people who are eligible for family and medical leave say they cannot take advantage of it because they cannot afford to take time off without pay. Paid family and medical leave has many benefits. It is already a well-established benefit in most of the industrialized world. In fact, there are only three industrialized countries: the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand that do not offer any form of paid family leave.
Paid family and medical leave would increase the quality of family relationships and would provide much-needed support for workers, particularly those who are single parents, work for low wages, or are moving from welfare to work. Because it creates an incentive for more workers to enter the labor market and to keep the jobs they already have, paid family and medical leave can help improve productivity and economic efficiency.
Currently, there is a bill before the New York State legislature that would use temporary disability insurance to provide paid family and medical leave of up to 12 weeks for eligible workers. Francine Moccio, the Institute's director, testified in hearings held about the bill on March 8 in Hauppage and June 7 in Yonkers. The Institute is developing a survey of New York State residents that would gauge support for paid family and medical leave and provide an estimate of its cost feasibility. The results of the survey will be released in late summer or early fall of 2001.
The New York City Working Women's Rights and Education Project: Promoting Workplace Health and Well-Being
In a recent report regarding women's status, New York received a grade of "F" on a composite index designed to measure the health and well-being of women in our State. On the basis of this report and other indicators, Cornell University's Institute for Women and Work at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) is undertaking a special initiative funded by the New York State Assembly Labor Committee. The purpose of the project entitled, The New York City Working Women's Rights and Education Project aims at promoting the health and well-being of New York's working women, especially low to middle income wage earners and immigrant workers by developing a series of case studies that will serve as the basis for peer education awareness workshops on (1) workplace rights; (2) workplace risks; and (3) access to family support systems.
The objective of this project is to provide working women with culturally sensitive information on health and safety, preventive health care, and family support services and to develop a group of intergenerational "trainers" from various age groups, from college students to retired union workers, as workplace and union "peer educators." These "peer educators" will receive training on the various aspects of workers' rights, including but not limited to identifying and addressing occupational risks, and to access vital health and family service information to promote greater health and well being. Upon successful completion of the training, these new educators will conduct presentations for unions and workplace rights advocates.
