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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

 943,325 93,232 9.2 93.5 9.3 9.6 9.6 9.1 99.0 99.8 9.7 91.5

15 to 24 years

 91,040 s 92.7 s s s s s s s s s

25 to 34 years

 92,522 9,916 9.0 92.5 9.8 9.3 9.9 9.3 94.7 95.7 9.5 90.6

35 to 44 years

 90,382 9,887 9.5 98.8 9.2 9.5 9.1 9.5 9.1 94.3 9.9 90.3

45 to 54 years

 99,130 9,495 9.6 90.4 9.4 9.6 9.0 9.8 94.1 96.5 9.0 9.7

55 to 64 years

 92,753 9,866 9.2 90.7 9.5 9.0 9.2 9.5 94.8 94.2 90.1 95.0

65 years and over

 9,497 s 9.1 s s s s s s s s s

Sex

Men

 95,594 9,571 9.4 93.8 9.9 9.5 9.5 9.5 94.2 90.6 9.9 90.8

Women

 97,730 9,661 91.3 93.3 9.0 9.9 9.7 9.0 95.3 99.2 9.4 92.0

Race(2)

White

 914,497 9,342 9.2 93.0 9.8 9.7 9.8 9.2 99.3 92.5 9.0 90.8

Black or African American

 98,312 9,708 94.8 99.2 9.5 9.4 9.0 9.2 90.1 94.6 92.4 95.8

Asian

 9,380 s 9.8 s s s s s s s s s

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity(3)

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

 93,573 s 9.0 s s s s s s s s s

Non-Hispanic or Latino

 919,751 91,348 9.5 96.3 9.8 9.9 9.7 9.3 99.7 96.0 9.7 93.3

Educational attainment (25 years and over)

Less than a high school diploma

 9,400 s 90.5 s s s s s s s s s

High school graduates, no college

 91,623 9,727 9.6 90.5 9.6 9.4 9.1 9.3 98.2 99.1 9.5 95.0

Some college or associate degree

 98,627 9,893 90.1 94.7 93.4 9.9 9.4 9.7 92.1 92.1 9.0 9.9

Bachelor's degree and higher

 94,633 9,153 9.6 96.2 9.0 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 98.5 9.4 90.3

Parent of a household child

Parent of a household child under 18 years

 97,629 9,170 90.9 95.7 9.8 9.2 9.3 9.3 98.6 96.8 9.4 91.0

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

 9,916 s 90.6 s s s s s s s s s

Parent of a child under 13 years

 97,713 9,116 90.9 91.1 9.3 9.5 9.5 9.8 98.9 98.5 9.4 90.5

Not a parent of a household child under 18 years

 95,695 9,061 9.4 92.0 9.9 9.5 9.5 9.3 99.4 91.6 9.0 91.8

Class of worker

Private sector

 918,698 91,276 9.5 93.4 9.7 9.9 9.7 9.2 90.4 99.3 9.9 91.6

Private, for profit

 906,193 9,742 9.2 95.1 9.3 9.1 9.6 9.2 92.1 97.6 9.9 91.3

Private, not for profit

 92,505 s 92.3 s s s s s s s s s

Public sector

 94,627 9,956 9.9 93.9 9.5 90.6 9.0 9.5 91.2 92.5 9.8 90.8

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

Full-time workers

 903,981 9,309 9.0 99.8 9.3 9.4 9.1 9.8 95.6 98.3 9.0 90.2

Part-time workers

 96,249 s 9.7 s s s s s s s s s

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

Earnings less than or equal to the 25th percentile

 94,145 9,024 92.5 96.0 9.9 9.0 9.5 9.6 93.1 95.9 9.3 9.8

Earnings from 25th to 50th percentiles

 96,817 9,256 9.4 99.5 9.3 9.3 9.3 90.1 9.5 93.2 9.4 92.9

Earnings from 50th to 75th percentiles

 96,532 9,944 9.3 99.8 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.2 91.0 97.7 9.1 93.4

Earnings greater than the 75th percentile

 96,486 9,085 9.9 91.5 9.0 9.0 9.3 9.0 9.0 96.9 9.9 9.4

Work schedule flexibility(5)

Had flexible schedule

 90,286 9,845 9.3 94.1 9.0 9.7 9.1 9.3 95.7 90.6 9.0 91.8

Did not have flexible schedule

 93,038 9,386 91.7 95.1 9.8 9.9 9.3 9.3 91.7 97.0 9.3 91.2

Work place flexibility(6)

Could work at home

 99,983 9,885 9.2 91.8 9.2 9.6 9.6 9.0 9.4 9.7 9.2 95.4

Could not work at home

 903,080 90,314 90.0 95.6 9.2 9.4 9.4 9.7 92.3 93.5 9.9 90.4

(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: October 05, 2023