{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T06:46:02Z","timestamp":1781246762599,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725926400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100021066","name":"Gates Ventures","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100021066","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study examines inequities in access to paid sick leave (PSL) by race\/ethnicity, income, and sex and the role of PSL access on leave-taking and care-seeking behaviors among Seattle-area workers in the months leading up to and during the emergence of COVID-19 in the region. Survey responses were collected online and in-person from individuals experiencing acute respiratory illness symptoms between November 2019 and March 2020 as part of a community-based respiratory viral surveillance study. Chi-square tests and log-binomial models were used to assess the association between PSL access and various socioeconomic indicators. A total of 66.6% (n = 2,276) respondents reported access to PSL. Proportionally, access to PSL was highest in respondents identifying as Asian (70.5%), followed by White (68.7%), Latine (58.4%), Multiracial (57.1%), Black (47.1%), and Other (43.1%). Access to PSL increased with household income. Eighty three percent of high-income respondents reported access compared to 52.9% of low-income households. Only 23.3% of the lowest-income households reported access to PSL. Fewer females (65.2%) than males (70.7%) reported access to PSL. Access to PSL is inequitably distributed across income, race\/ethnicity, and sex. This study reinforces the vast body of knowledge on how socioeconomic inequalities increase individual and community-level vulnerability to the impacts of infectious disease outbreaks. It also supports the role of labor and economic policy in mitigating (or exacerbating) these impacts. Exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, universal access to PSL, especially for marginalized populations, benefits all.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0307734","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T17:21:46Z","timestamp":1725988906000},"page":"e0307734","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["\u201cI probably shouldn\u2019t go in today\u201d: Inequitable access to paid sick leave and its impacts on health behaviors during the emergence of COVID-19 in the Seattle area"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5721-6425","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Chidozie D.","family":"Iwu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah N.","family":"Cox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah L.","family":"Sohlberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashley E.","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Logue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter D.","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas R.","family":"Sibley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Misja","family":"Ilcisin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kairsten A.","family":"Fay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jover","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Denise J.","family":"McCulloch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-8771-7451","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yongzhe","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Boeckh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janet A.","family":"Englund","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lea M.","family":"Starita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anjum","family":"Hajat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helen Y.","family":"Chu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0307734.ref001","first-page":"329","article-title":"Ameliorating COVID-19\u2019s Disproportionate Impact on Black and Hispanic Communities","volume":"22","author":"A. 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