The impact of paid family leave on parent and infant health outcomes: a systematic review of quasi-experimental research.

Authors

Laura Hergenrother, Sara Honaker, Meghan Shanahan

Published in

BMC public health. Jul 14, 2026. Epub Jul 14, 2026.

Abstract

Despite strong international evidence that Paid Family Leave (PFL) policies support the physical health and mental health of parents and infants and domestic evidence of its benefits on family economic well-being, the United States lacks a national PFL policy.
This systematic review sought to evaluate the association of PFL in the United States with parent and infant health outcomes. Quasi-experimental research studies with comparisons of states with PFL policies versus those without such policies were eligible for review. A search strategy was created to match the research aims, and PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and PsycINFO were searched. Included studies were assessed by a title and abstract screening, followed by a full-text screening completed by two reviewers. Data were abstracted and narratively synthesized.
All included studies found improvements in birthing people's health outcomes for those exposed to PFL compared to those not exposed. All studies found positive or neutral benefits of PFL for non-birthing partners' and infants' health outcomes. Health outcomes were measured as physical, mental, and well-being outcomes for parents, and physical health outcomes for infants. PFL was associated with a positive effect on birthing people's physical health via: self-reported health status, number of nights spent in the hospital, the likelihood of reporting sick days, and daily prescription drug use; mental health via postpartum psychological distress; and well-being via: the likelihood of being overweight and alcohol consumption. Findings were less pronounced for non-birthing partners. PFL was associated with improvements in infant health via: the post-neonatal mortality rate, parent-reported overall infant health, abusive head trauma admissions, and hospital admissions for upper respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.
Although PFL was found to be associated with a variety of health impacts, diverse groups of parents and infants experienced different magnitudes of treatment effects. Future work is needed to better understand the extent to which PFL is associated with health inequities at the population level. Analyses are recommended to span across social identities.

PMID:
42449301
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Jul 2026.

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