Paid leave still leaves vulnerable New Yorkers falling through the cracks

Two years ago, I endured every parent’s worst fear: My son Archie died just six days after he was born. Little did I know that this period of intense mourning and grief would also come with a financial shock from the New York paid family and medical leave system. 

I learned that New Yorkers like me — who expect to take New York State Paid Family Leave to bond with a new child, but suffer neonatal loss — have little support to fall back on. I was only eligible for Paid Family Leave for those six fleeting days while my son was alive because, according to the state of New York, I no longer needed Paid Family Leave without a baby “to bond with.” Archie died on Sunday evening, and the New York State Paid Family Leave policy expected me back at work, or to switch to New York paid medical leave, by Monday morning. And inexplicably, New York’s paid medical leave program provides a fraction of the pay and benefits available under its Paid Family Leave program.

Under Paid Family Leave, New Yorkers can receive up to $1,151 per week while taking time off work to bond with a new baby or care for a seriously ill family member. But under New York’s paid medical leave program — known as Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) — a worker who needs time off to physically recover from childbirth or otherwise care for their ownhealth needs can receive a maximum of $170 per week. 

I had no idea that tragically losing my newborn—either shortly after birth as I did or, as so many others experience, by pregnancy loss — would mean seeing the very Paid Family Leave benefits that I had contributed to through my paycheck deductions evaporate, forcing me to use my remaining PTO from my job in order to mourn my loss and physically recover from my c-section. Taking paid medical leave was not an option for our family, as we could not survive on $170 per week. 

Why should mothers who lose their children receive a pittance of what mothers caring for a new child do? Why should any New Yorker recovering from their own health challenges be forced to survive on six times less than someone caring for a loved one’s health conditions?

At $170 per week, New York paid medical leave puts someone in an even worse financial position than unemployment insurance. It is unarguably not enough to live on anywhere in New York, and hasn’t been for over a decade. But it has been stuck at that amount since 1989. In addition, the paid medical leave law includes no guarantee of a job to return to or continued health insurance coverage. New York has fallen far beyond peer states, including Connecticut and New Jersey, in its inequitable and outdated paid leave program.

It seemed that Gov. Kathy Hochul and the majority of New York State lawmakers agreed, as they sought to remedy this vast inequality between our Paid Family Leave and paid medical leave programs in the recent state budget. Despite our Governor, Senate, and House all agreeing that paid medical leave must be improved, however, they failed to pass any changes last month. 

Now, our lawmakers have until June 6 to make it right — not only for mothers suffering devastating losses as I did, but for every New Yorker who faces a serious medical issue at some point in their life and needs time off work. No one should fall into financial ruin or risk losing their job because they are injured in a car accident, need to attend chemotherapy appointments, need substance use treatment, or are mandated bed rest by their doctor to keep a pregnancy healthy.

No mother should have to bear the heartache of losing a child without the support and resources needed to heal. No family should be forced to choose between grieving their loss and putting food on the table.

In memory of Archie — Arthur Christopher Martin, Nov. 21, 2022-Nov. 27, 2022 — and in solidarity with all parents who have endured neonatal death and stillbirth, I am filled with a sense of urgency to demand change. It is time for New York legislators to do the right thing: Pass S2821/A4053 so that all New Yorkers can access the job-protected, comprehensive paid leave they need and deserve when faced with life’s toughest challenges.

Cathy Johnston is a resident of Willow, New York.