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Economic News Release
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Table 8. Workers who needed to take leave from their jobs but did not take it: reasons for not taking leave by selected characteristics, averages for the period 2017-2018

Table 8. Workers who needed to take leave from their jobs but did not take it: reasons for not taking leave by selected characteristics, averages for the period 2017-2018
Characteristic Total
workers
(in thou-
sands)		 Workers who needed to take leave during an average month but did not
Total
(in thou-
sands)		 Per-
cent		 Percent distribution by reasons for not taking leave(1)
Too
much
work		 No one
avail-
able to
cover
shift		 Made
alternate
arrange-
ments		 Wanted
to save
leave		 Did not
have
enough
leave		 Could not
afford loss
in income		 Feared
negative
employ-
ment conse-
quence or
leave denied		 Did not
have
access to
paid or
unpaid
leave		 Other

Age

Total, 15 years and over

 144,295 12,485 8.7 22.9 6.7 6.0 4.8 6.5 15.2 20.7 8.9 9.3

15 to 24 years

 21,296 2,164 10.2 s s s s s s s s s

25 to 34 years

 33,682 2,768 8.2 23.2 5.9 4.7 4.1 3.8 16.5 24.4 10.3 7.7

35 to 44 years

 30,159 3,022 10.0 33.3 7.9 6.5 7.3 8.9 8.6 13.8 6.8 7.8

45 to 54 years

 29,484 2,507 8.5 25.3 7.6 7.5 3.0 3.5 15.8 21.1 8.4 9.6

55 to 64 years

 22,514 1,682 7.5 19.6 10.1 9.0 1.7 0.3 12.7 27.9 7.0 12.6

65 years and over

 7,160 342 4.8 s s s s s s s s s

Sex

Men

 74,830 5,304 7.1 23.7 4.4 6.9 4.2 4.4 18.9 20.4 9.3 8.8

Women

 69,465 7,181 10.3 22.4 8.3 5.3 5.2 8.0 12.5 20.9 8.5 9.7

Race(2)

White

 115,129 8,954 7.8 22.8 6.4 5.9 4.1 6.8 15.7 23.7 7.0 8.4

Black or African American

 17,924 2,549 14.2 20.3 6.4 7.1 7.7 2.1 15.1 12.5 17.1 13.0

Asian

 7,849 419 5.3 s s s s s s s s s

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity(3)

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

 24,375 2,038 8.4 12.8 4.5 8.6 5.4 16.5 14.5 27.3 9.2 2.8

Non-Hispanic or Latino

 119,920 10,447 8.7 24.9 7.1 5.5 4.6 4.5 15.3 19.4 8.8 10.6

Educational attainment (25 years and over)

Less than a high school diploma

 6,743 706 10.5 s s s s s s s s s

High school graduates, no college

 31,425 2,831 9.0 19.7 4.7 9.0 7.0 1.7 20.4 19.3 10.2 9.2

Some college or associate degree

 29,407 2,635 9.0 20.1 10.9 6.0 2.3 3.3 13.2 29.2 7.0 8.6

Bachelor's degree and higher

 55,424 4,149 7.5 34.6 8.4 5.7 4.2 7.8 6.0 16.8 6.9 10.8

Parent of a household child

Parent of a household child under 18 years

 47,693 5,112 10.7 25.8 7.4 6.7 7.9 6.9 14.3 14.5 7.8 9.4

Parent of a child 13 to 17 years (none younger)

 10,003 866 8.7 37.2 11.2 1.7 2.0 1.8 14.0 17.2 5.3 11.7

Parent of a child under 13 years

 37,690 4,247 11.3 23.5 6.6 7.7 9.1 7.9 14.3 13.9 8.4 8.9

Not a parent of a household child under 18 years

 96,602 7,373 7.6 20.9 6.1 5.5 2.6 6.2 15.8 25.0 9.6 9.2

Class of worker

Private sector

 118,872 10,251 8.6 23.2 6.0 5.2 4.3 6.9 16.5 20.0 9.8 9.0

Private, for profit

 107,072 9,046 8.4 24.4 5.9 5.5 4.6 5.8 17.3 18.6 10.1 8.8

Private, not for profit

 11,800 1,205 10.2 s s s s s s s s s

Public sector

 25,423 2,234 8.8 21.7 9.5 9.8 7.0 4.5 9.1 23.9 4.6 10.7

Full- and part-time status (single jobholders only)(4)

Full-time workers

 106,369 9,114 8.6 27.8 7.0 5.8 4.7 7.3 12.7 19.2 8.2 8.3

Part-time workers

 25,882 2,193 8.5 6.0 3.5 6.1 5.7 3.1 23.1 29.6 10.0 12.8

Usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary
workers (single jobholders only)

Earnings less than or equal to the 25th percentile

 25,200 2,791 11.1 16.5 7.7 5.7 2.3 8.6 25.1 19.9 9.2 6.1

Earnings from 25th to 50th percentiles

 26,521 2,121 8.0 18.7 6.9 6.9 7.4 12.4 7.3 25.3 5.2 11.2

Earnings from 50th to 75th percentiles

 27,193 2,256 8.3 34.5 9.3 6.9 1.7 5.2 10.5 18.2 7.8 7.1

Earnings greater than the 75th percentile

 27,454 1,946 7.1 46.3 3.5 3.6 8.7 2.2 3.4 12.7 10.5 9.5

Work schedule flexibility(5)

Had flexible schedule

 81,533 5,682 7.0 31.9 3.1 6.5 6.7 7.3 12.8 13.1 9.9 9.1

Did not have flexible schedule

 62,762 6,803 10.8 15.4 9.7 5.6 3.1 5.8 17.2 27.0 8.0 9.5

Work place flexibility(6)

Could work at home

 41,571 2,863 6.9 47.2 3.0 2.8 4.1 4.9 6.6 10.0 8.4 13.5

Could not work at home

 102,338 9,595 9.4 15.7 7.7 7.0 5.0 6.9 17.7 23.9 8.9 8.1

(1) Estimates for reasons may sum to more than 100 percent because some people had multiple reasons for not taking leave.
(2) Estimates for race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to the totals because data are not presented for all races.
(3) Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race.
(4) Full-time workers usually work 35 hours or more per week. Part-time workers usually work less than 35 hours per week.
(5) Workers with flexible schedules were able to vary or change the times they began and stopped working.
(6) The subcategories do not sum to the totals because a small number of workers did not provide this information.
s - Estimate is suppressed because it does not meet the American Time Use Survey publication standards.

Note: Data refer to wage and salary workers at their main jobs. All self-employed workers (including workers with incorporated businesses and those with unincorporated businesses) are excluded. Unless otherwise specified, data refer to workers 15 years and over.

Table of Contents

Last Modified Date: August 29, 2019