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Higher paid workers more likely than lower paid workers to have paid leave benefits in 2020

April 01, 2021

Paid sick leave was available to 75 percent of workers in private industry in March 2020. Paid sick leave was available to 31 percent of workers with an average wage in the lowest 10 percent and to 94 percent of workers with an average wage in the highest 10 percent.

Percent of private industry workers with access to paid sick leave, vacation, and holidays, by wage category, March 2020
Wage category Paid sick leave Paid vacation Paid holidays

All workers

75% 79% 80%

Lowest 10 percent

31 40 43

Lowest 25 percent

49 54 58

Second 25 percent

80 83 83

Third 25 percent

87 91 92

Highest 25 percent

92 93 93

Highest 10 percent

94 94 94

Paid vacation benefits were available to 79 percent of private industry workers in March 2020. Paid holidays were available to 80 percent of workers. As with paid sick leave, paid vacation and holidays were more often available to higher paid than lower paid workers.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey — Benefits program. For more information, see “Employee Benefits in the United States — March 2020.” For more information about terms related to employee benefits, see our glossary.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Higher paid workers more likely than lower paid workers to have paid leave benefits in 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/higher-paid-workers-more-likely-than-lower-paid-workers-to-have-paid-leave-benefits-in-2020.htm (visited April 26, 2024).

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