California is known as the first state to implement the Paid Family Leave (PFL) program in 2004. It is an insurance program that provides income to families who are on leave to take care of a family member or to bond with a new child. In a recent study, it was revealed that the PFL program may be instrumental in the continuous decrease of the number of abuse-related head injuries among children.
Head Injuries are known as the leading cause of child abuse-related deaths in the United States. Most of the victims are infants between 9 weeks to 20 weeks old when infants cry for long periods of time, the researchers said.
The research team from the Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected data on the total number of children admitted to the hospital for intentional head injuries from the years 2005 until 2011 in the state of California, medicaldaily.com reported. They then compared it to the number of hospitalized children of the same cause in seven different states which does not have the PFL program: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin.
The results showed that after the PFL program was introduced in the state of California, there was a drop in the number of cases for children 2 years-old and younger admitted for abuse-related head injuries. After carefully studying the numbers, the investigators concluded that the program was directly connected to the drop of 5.1 admissions per 100,000 children younger than 1 year old, and a decrease of 2.8 per 100,000 children younger than 2 years old.
According to US News, in states where the PFL program was not introduced, it was found that during the "Great Recession" (2007-2009) there was an increase in the total number of admission rates. The study also believes that the program will have an even greater impact if more "at-risk" parents have an idea about it, are able to afford it, and use the full 12 weeks given to them.
The results provide "positive evidence" that the program affects the number of abuse-related injuries in young children, explained the researchers in a statement.
