Given the cost of living in New York, imagine having to get by on just $170 a week — less than $700 a month.
New York’s paid medical leave program, known as “Temporary Disability Insurance” hasn’t been updated since 1989. TDI is used when one needs to receive chemotherapy, recover from surgery, seek mental health or substance use treatment, attend dialysis, and more., every single state with paid leave programs and Washington, D.C. offer paid medical leave benefits at least five times more than New York’s maximum of $170 a week.
Despite these complications, for which I visited the emergency room twice, I continued working because I needed that income to pay rent and to support the child I was about to have. I put off taking the paid medical leave that I needed and was entitled to as long as I could, because I knew $170 a week wasn’t enough to live on.
Our Paid Family Leave program, which was groundbreaking when it first passed in 2016, has also now fallen woefully behind other states. With me only earning $156 a week, my partner transferred jobs to earn more to support our family.