Currently in the United States, half of all workers and three fourths of low-income workers do not receive a single paid sick day (National Partnership for Women and Families, 2007). What does this mean for U.S. families? It means that parents often must choose between caring for a sick child and paying their bills. Families of children with developmental disabilities are more likely to live in poverty (Fujiura & Yamaki, 2000), and their children are significantly more likely to miss school days than typically developing children (Boyle, Decoufle, & Yeargin-Allsopp, 1994). These factors regularly force parents to choose between income and family. Improving labor force protections that support working families is imperative.
The Healthy Families Act (2007), pending in Congress, is legislation that would do just that. The bill proposes to extend an annual minimum of 7 days of paid sick leave to...