The following public comment was submitted to the Allegheny County Health Department on July 15, 2026 by Kristina Marusic, Communications and Campaign Manager, on behalf of the Ohio River Valley Institute.
While the potential public health benefits of the Allegheny County Health Department’s proposed parental leave policy have been well documented, there’s less public-facing research on the potential impacts to the local economy and business owners. ORVI has compiled research and analyzed data in an effort to help fill this gap. We offer our research findings here for the record:
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could grow the local workforce by up to $5,000 workers and add up to $215 million in wages to the local economy.
Research suggests that paid parental leave policies can increase rates of women’s participation in the labor force.[1] We compared labor force participation rates for women in Allegheny County to those in the city of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada because Hamilton has a similarly-sized overall labor force and experienced a similar historical transition from heavy manufacturing to a current economy with strong education, healthcare, and tech sectors, but it is subject to Canada’s national parental leave policy.
If Allegheny County’s labor force participation rate among women of childbearing age increased to the rate of Hamilton’s, then Allegheny County would expand its labor force by up to 5,000 workers, which could add around $215 million in earned wages in the county annually.[2]
We also compared women’s labor force participation in Allegheny County to those in Canada as a whole, and to those in Northern Europe (where every country has paid parental leave), using slightly different methods for each comparison in pursuit of robust findings that are not sensitive to specific conditions or methodologies.
We found that if women in Allegheny County participated in the labor force at the same rate as women in Canada, the county could expand its labor force by around 3,000 workers and $125 million in earnings, and that if women in Allegheny County participated in the labor force at the same rate as women in northern Europe, the county’s workforce could expand by around 2,744 workers and around $100 million in earned wages annually.[3]
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could reduce population loss.
The labor force in Allegheny County grew by about 3,000 workers from 1990 to 2025.[4] In contrast, the county’s population declined by about 112,000 people over that same time period.[5] It’s likely that many former Allegheny County residents moved away in search of work over the past three decades, which makes the county’s labor force participation rate appear higher because the labor force remained relatively the same while population declined.
This suggests that Allegheny County’s labor force participation rate would actually be lower – perhaps considerably lower – if its population had not shrunk significantly over the past decades and those workers were still in Allegheny County searching for work. A paid parental leave policy could make employment opportunities more attractive in Allegheny County relative to other geographies, which might help stem future population loss.
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could reduce labor costs and increase profitability for both large and small businesses.
Parental leave policies can increase profitability by reducing turnover and administrative burdens and increasing productivity.[6]
An estimate from Connecticut suggests businesses pay an average of $6.87 weekly per worker for paid leave, but on average gain $12.32 of value per worker each week from increased productivity and reduced turnover.[7] In 2024, about 3.5% of Connecticut’s payroll labor force utilized the state’s paid leave policy.[8] If a comparable policy in Allegheny County saw a similar utilization rate for paid leave, an estimated 22,696 current workers of any gender in the county would use the policy each year. If the same corresponding increases in productivity occurred in Allegheny County, this level of utilization would lead to an estimated annual cost of $1.87 million and an estimated net productivity gain of $3.36 million for all current workers in the county. In other words, Allegheny County’s paid leave policy could lead to a net productivity gain of up to $1.49 million for businesses in the county.[9]
Small businesses can see reduced labor costs when workers can access paid leave. A 2021 study on the last 20 years of California’s paid leave policy found that companies with 25 or fewer employees experienced, on average, a 14% decrease in per-worker labor costs when employees used paid family leave. Surprisingly, the smallest businesses experienced the greatest percentage-based reductions in labor costs.[10]
Large companies across the U.S. that adopted or expanded their paid leave policies experienced an average increase of 4.6% in revenue and 6.8% in profit per full-time equivalent employee, according to a 2019 analysis.[11] These benefits held across disparate sectors: The same analysis found that after implementing a paid leave program, technology companies on average experienced a $2.64 return for every $1.00 invested in their workforce, and manufacturing companies saw a $2.57 return for every dollar invested. This represented an improvement in productivity of 6.5% and 3.6% for each industry, respectively, from before implementing their paid leave policies.
About 34% of first-time mothers who don’t utilize paid leave quit their jobs before or after giving birth.[12] Finding, hiring, and training new workers to replace them costs employers around 40% of a worker’s salary for frontline workers, around 80% of the salary of a professional in a technical role, and around 200% of the salary of a leader or manager (on top of paying their actual salaries).[13] In contrast, only 2.6% of first-time mothers who utilize paid leave quit their jobs before or after the birth of their child, and around 92% of first-time mothers who utilize paid leave return to work for the same employer.
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could help small businesses compete with large ones.
Nine out of ten American adults would prefer to live in a place where paid family and medical leave is available.[14] Large companies are more likely than small businesses to offer voluntary paid leave, which makes them more attractive to job-seekers.[15] Most employers report that offering paid leave strengthens their ability to recruit talented workers,[16] and workers with access to paid leave are 22% more likely to recommend their job to a friend than are those without paid leave.[17] Small businesses in Allegheny County would likely be better able to compete with larger companies for skilled workers after implementing the proposed paid leave policy.
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could reduce Allegheny County’s EMS worker shortage.
All of Pennsylvania, including Allegheny County, are experiencing a shortage of Emergency Medical Service EMS workers[18] that the proposed paid leave policy could help to address. EMS departments across the country face high rates of turnover due in part to high stress, fatigue, and burnout, with many workers citing low pay and poor work-life balance as primary drivers of their exit from the field.[19] The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) and the National Association of EMTs (NAEMT) published a comprehensive position statement in 2025 asserting that a minimum of 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave is “essential” for all EMS clinicians as part of an “an evidence-based and pragmatic approach to promoting a healthy emergency medical services (EMS) workforce.”[20] Providing EMS workers in the county with paid leave under this policy could boost retention and recruitment of workers at a moment when doing so is critical to making EMS services more sustainable in Allegheny County.
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could reduce Allegheny County’s teacher shortage.
There’s a teacher shortage throughout Pennsylvania, including in Allegheny County.[21] About 15% of teachers who leave their jobs cite reasons such as pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for family members. School districts can spend between $11,000 and $25,000 to replace a single teacher, and high teacher turnover harms student outcomes.[22] The proposed paid leave policy could help retain and attract new teachers in Allegheny County, which would reduce the ongoing teacher shortage.[23]
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could reduce Allegheny County’s nurse shortage.
There’s a critical nurse shortage throughout Pennsylvania, including in Allegheny County.[24] About 46% of nurses ages 31-40 who leave their jobs cite “family obligations” as the primary reason for leaving the workforce, as do 37% of nurses 41-50 years old.[25] A 2026 survey found that the average cost of replacing a single nurse is $60,090, and that each percent change in nurse turnover costs or saves the average hospital an additional $295,000 per year.[26] The proposed paid leave policy could help retain and attract new nurses in Allegheny County, which would reduce the nurse shortage.
Allegheny County’s paid parental leave policy could reduce Allegheny County’s early childhood education worker shortage.
All of Pennsylvania, including Allegheny County, are experiencing a shortage of early childhood education workers.[27] One in four early childhood education workers leaves their jobs each year,[28] and high rates of turnover result in lower-quality care for children.[29] Research suggests that paid leave policies could help reduce turnover among early childhood education workers.[30] The proposed paid leave policy could help retain and attract new early childhood education workers in Allegheny County relative to other counties, which would reduce the worker shortage in the county’s daycares and early childhood education centers at a moment when it is critical to do so.
[1] Agar Brugiavini, Giacomo Pasini, and Elisabetta Trevisan, “The direct impact of maternity benefits on leave taking: Evidence from complete fertility histories,” March 2013, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24797466/
[2] Referencing 2024 data from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), Statistics Canada, and the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, comparing the labor force participation rate for women ages 15-54 in Hamilton, Ontario and Allegheny County, and applying median annual earnings for women working in Allegheny County.
[3] Comparing the average labor force participation for women of childbearing age in Canada and Northern Europe to Allegheny County’s, and applying the median wage for women working full-time in Pennsylvania. This is the lower-bound estimate.
[4] Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Civilian Labor Force in Allegheny County, PA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LAUCN420030000000006A
[5] Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Resident Population in Allegheny County, PA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAALLE3POP
[6] Bennett, B., Erel, I., Stern, L., & Wang, Z. (2022, November 14). Paid Leave Pays Off: The Effects of Paid Family Leave on Firm Performance. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w27788/w27788.pdf
[7] Kevin Miller and Christopher Williams, “Valuing Good Health in Connecticut: The Costs and Benefits of Paid Sick Days,” 2010, https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/B291.pdf
[8] Connecticut Paid Leave Authority, “Annual Report 2024,” September 1, 2024, https://www.ctpaidleave.org/-/media/ctpl/english-pdfs-and-docs/2024-ctpl-annual-report.pdf?rev=690a1bcd10dc4c44aed264f79af85528
[9] This calculation applies the paid leave utilization rate and corresponding productivity gains seen in Connecticut to Allegheny County’s 656,269 current workers.
[10] Bay Area Council Economic Institute, “Paid Family Leave in California: A Look at the First 15 Years,” September 2021, https://www.bayareaeconomy.org/files/pdf/BACEI_PFL_Sept2021.pdf
[11] Panorama Global, “The Business Impacts of Paid Leave,” 2019, https://assets-global.website-files.com/62448c65f2a3dc7ae94193bd/62448c65f2a3dc0f7a4195a2_Business-impacts-of-paid-leave-A-Panorama-report.pdf
[12] U.S. Department of Labor, “Paid Leave and Employment Stability for First-Time Mothers,” 2021, https://www.dol.gov/resource-library/paid-leave-and-employment-stability-first-time-mothers-issue-brief
[13] Ben Wigert, “Employee Turnover Is Preventable — and Often Ignored,” August 21, 2024, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/646538/employee-turnover-preventable-often-ignored.aspx
[14] Poll was conducted by Morning Consult, on behalf of BSR, between August 2-4, 2024 among a sample of 2,204 adults. Morning Consult. (2024, October). Business Implications of State Social Policies. https://www.bsr.org/files/BSR-Morning-Consult-Business-Implications-State-Social-Policies.pdf
[15] Rose Khattar and Jessica Vela, “America’s Small Businesses Need a National Paid Leave Program” https://www.americanprogress.org/article/americas-small-businesses-need-a-national-paid-leave-program/
[16] Society for Human Resource Management, “Paid Leave in the U.S.,” November 2020, https://www.shrm.org/content/dam/en/shrm/about/press-room/SHRM_Paid_Leave_US_Report_Final.pdf
[17] National Partnership for Women & Families, “Unpaid and Unprotected: How Lack of Paid Leave Impacts Financial Health,” February 2023, https://nationalpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/unpaid-and-unprotected-how-lack-paid-leave-impacts-financial-health.pdf
[18] County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, “CCAP/DCED EMS Study and Toolkit Final Report,” 2023, https://www.pacounties.org/getmedia/af330b5a-f7cb-4383-85e9-23283fb40940/CCAP-DCED-EMS-Study-and-Toolkit-Final-Report-2023.pdf
[19] National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, “2022 National Survey: EMS Workforce Satisfaction and Engagement,” December 3, 2022, https://naemt.org/docs/default-source/2017-publication-docs/national-report-on-engagement-and-satisfaction-survey-12-03-2022.pdf?sfvrsn=fbf7f793_2
[20] Amelia M. Breyre et al., “Parental Leave and Lactation Policy for EMS Clinicians – A Position Statement and Resource Document of NAEMSP,” July 2025, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10903127.2025.2537244?
[21] Elena Eisenstadt, “Shortage of new teachers is hurting Pa. kids’ academic prospects, report says,” June 24, 2025, https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/06/teacher-shortage-certification-rural-urban-report-penn-state/
[22] National Council on Teacher Quality, “State of the States: Investing in Teachers and Families Through Paid Parental Leave,” January 12, 2026, https://www.nctq.org/research-insights/state-of-the-states-investing-in-teachers-and-families-through-paid-parental-leave/
[23] Hannah Natanson, “Teachers say parental leave policies are forcing them to choose between career and family,” January 24, 2026, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/01/24/teachers-parental-leave-policies/
[24] The Conversation, “Pennsylvania may be short 20,000 nurses by 2026,” April 2025, https://theconversation.com/pennsylvania-may-be-short-20-000-nurses-by-2026-252274
[25] National Center for Biotechnology Information, “Impact of Paid Family Leave on Families and Employers,” April 2024, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11004833/
[26] NSI Nursing Solutions, “NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report,” March 2024, https://www.nsinursingsolutions.com/documents/library/nsi_national_health_care_retention_report.pdf
[27] Start Strong PA, “PA Child Care Crisis,” September 2024, https://startstrongpa.org/pa-child-care-crisis
[28] Erin G. Fox, Kelly M. Purtell, and Sarah N. Lang, “Exploring Potential Factors Driving High Turnover Among Early Care and Education Teachers,” August 2025, https://crane.osu.edu/our-work/exploring-potential-factors-driving-high-turnover-among-early-care-and-education-teachers/
[29] Todd Hall, Daphna Bassok, and Justin B. Doromal, “Does teacher turnover relate to lower safety and quality in child care settings?” 2026, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0885200625001292
[30] Robyn Kelton, “Examining the Role of Employer Benefits and Turnover in Center-Based Child Care,” June 27, 2025, https://www.mccormickinstitute.nl.edu/examining-the-role-of-employer-benefits-and-turnover-in-center-based-child-care