Follow-Up Study:Paid Family Leave Insurance/ Families

描述（由申请人提供）：有特殊卫生保健需要的儿童（CSHCN）占所有儿童的15%，占儿科卫生支出的大部分。CSHCN的父母比其他父母经历更大的工作中断，主要是由于他们的孩子的慢性疾病的发作。因此，对于CSHCN的父母来说，家庭假的可用性和类型可能至关重要。2004年7月，加州（CA）带薪家庭假保险（PFLI）计划生效，为大多数员工提供6周的带薪假期，使CA成为第一个立法规定带薪家庭假的州。这项有争议的计划明显扩大了现行的联邦家庭假法，该法只保证无薪家庭假。由于尚不清楚CSHCN父母的就业和休假需求和行为，因此很难预测新政策的效果。在PFLI开始之前，我们完成了对加利福尼亚州570名CSHCN父母和伊利诺斯州572名（没有PFLI）父母的基线电话调查。初步分析表明，儿童疾病与父母就业之间存在重大冲突，家事假也很重要。我们寻求资金进行后续调查的基线父母（纵向分析）和调查的一个新的队列的父母（连续队列分析）约三年后的基线调查。我们的研究是第一个评估PFLI对CSHCN家庭就业，休假以及儿童和父母健康影响的研究，将为研究人员，父母，政策制定者，雇主和临床医生提供关键信息。我们的具体目标是：（1）研究PFLI、儿童疾病和其他因素如何影响CSHCN父母的就业和休假;（2）评估PFLI和其他家庭假选择的使用如何影响父母照顾子女的能力、子女的生活质量、父母的心理健康和父母的就业。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) make up 15% of all children and account for the majority of pediatric health expenditures. Parents of CSHCN experience greater work disruptions than other parents, largely due to episodic exacerbations of their children's chronic illnesses. Thus, for parents of CSHCN, the availability and type of family leave may be critical. In July 2004, the California (CA) Paid Family Leave Insurance (PFLI) program took effect, providing 6 weeks of paid leave for most employees and making CA the first state to legislate paid family leave. This controversial program markedly expands the current federal family leave law, which guarantees only unpaid family leave. Because the employment and leave-taking needs and behaviors of parents of CSHCN are not well understood, the effects of new policies are difficult to predict. Before PFLI began, we completed a baseline phone survey of 570 parents of CSHCN in CA and 572 in Illinois (which does not have PFLI). Preliminary analyses suggest major conflicts between child illness and parent employment, as well as the importance of family leave. We seek funds to conduct follow-up surveys of baseline parents (for longitudinal analyses) and surveys of a new cohort of parents (for successive cohort analyses) about three years after the baseline survey. Our study, the first to assess PFLI's effects on employment, leave-taking, and child and parent health among families with CSHCN, will provide critical information for researchers, parents, policy-makers, employers, and clinicians. Our specific aims are to: (1) examine how PFLI, child illness, and other factors affect employment and leave-taking among parents of CSHCN; and (2) assess how use of PFLI and other family leave options affect parents' ability to care for children, children's quality of life, parents' mental health, and parents' employment.