Money in Your Pockets: Ahead of January 1, 2025 Start Date for First in the Nation Paid Prenatal Leave, Governor Hochul Announces New Campaign to Mobilize Eligible New Yorkers

Governor Kathy Hochul today kicked off a statewide campaign to raise awareness of New York's first-in-the-nation paid prenatal leave policy, which takes effect on January 1, 2025. This nation-leading policy, proposed in Governor Hochul's 2024 State of the State and signed into law in April, gives workers the ability to take paid leave for any pregnancy-related medical appointments. In the past year alone, Governor Hochul has made New York more affordable for working families through investing $1.8 billion in child care, delivering $2.3 billion in property tax relief, brokering a landmark affordable housing deal and more.

"No pregnant woman in New York should be forced to choose between a paycheck and a check-up - and that's why I pushed to create the nation's first paid prenatal leave policy," Governor Hochul said. "From raising the minimum wage to investing in affordable child care, we're making New York the best and most affordable place to raise a family."

Led by the State's Department of Labor, New York's statewide public awareness campaign is aimed at promoting New York State's groundbreaking Paid Prenatal Leave policy. The campaign will officially kick off with the unveiling of subway ads. The goal of the awareness campaign is to educate New Yorkers and businesses about the new law and to remind pregnant women in New York State that they never have to choose between a paycheck and prenatal care.

Additional campaign efforts will include social media outreach, a dedicated webpage, newsletters, a virtual media tour with New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon, and collaboration with various stakeholders and influencers to raise awareness throughout 2025.

New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, "With Paid Prenatal Leave, New York is not only taking care of pregnant women, but also future generations of our workforce. I applaud Governor Hochul's ongoing commitment to New York State families."

Effective January 1, 2025, any privately employed pregnant New Yorker will now be able to receive an additional 20 hours of paid sick leave for prenatal care. The New York State Department of Labor estimates that about 130,000 pregnant women per year will be eligible for this benefit, with about 65,800 of those being hourly workers.

Pregnancy-related health care includes:

• Physical examinations
• Medical procedures
• Monitoring
• Testing
• Discussions with a health care provider needed to ensure a healthy pregnancy
• Fertility treatment
• End of pregnancy care

No pregnant woman in New York should be forced to choose between a paycheck and a check-up"

The paid prenatal leave benefits are in addition to New York State Paid Family Leave, existing employer-provided leave and existing sick leave benefits, ensuring workers can receive the health care needed to address all pregnancy related care to create healthy outcomes without jeopardizing their employment or finances. The law applies to all private employers in New York State, with no minimum employee threshold, and is applicable to both full-time and part-time employees.

New York State Health Commissioner James McDonald said, "Governor Hochul's unwavering commitment to protecting pregnant workers in New York is critical to ensuring access to quality care throughout their pregnancy. Giving pregnant people paid leave for pregnancy-related care will protect their health, the health and safety of their unborn children and improve health outcomes."

Without paid leave, many women are forced to choose between getting medical care or earning a paycheck. In New York, rates of infant mortality are highest among those who had no prenatal care or did not begin accessing prenatal care until the third trimester. Yet too many women are not able to receive this medical care because they cannot take unpaid leave; one recent study found that nearly 40 percent of women who did not get prenatal medical care reported this was due to a lack of paid leave or unaffordable care.

Studies show that prenatal health care is highly correlated with improved health outcomes for mothers and infants; and that pregnant women who have access to regular prenatal medical visits are less likely to die in childbirth, and their newborns are more likely to be healthy. Compared with infants born to mothers who received prenatal care, infants whose mothers did not receive prenatal care were three times more likely to have a low birth weight, less than 5.5 pounds, and five times more likely to die in infancy. Additionally, women who do not receive prenatal care are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than those who do receive care.

Pregnant women of color, especially Black women, face disproportionately higher rates of pregnancy complications and maternal mortality nationally. Black women are overrepresented among pregnancy related deaths, accounting for 14.3 percent of all births in New York in 2018 but more than half, 51 percent, of maternal deaths. Black women are five times more likely to die from pregnancy than white women and are also more likely to experience complications, and the preeclampsia rate is 60 percent higher in Black women than in white women.

New York State Office of Child and Family Services Commissioner DeMia Harris-Madden said,"This innovative and meaningful legislation is another example of the Governor's commitment to addressing maternal and infant health. Introducing this premiere paid prenatal medical leave is a deliberate action to protect women and babies while promoting equitable workforce advancements. With more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths being preventable, increased access to consistent prenatal care without a penalty of lost wages will lead to positive health outcomes to include a reduction in pregnancy and birth complications."

New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner Barbara C. Guinn said, "New York's new Paid Prenatal Leave law will improve health outcomes for women by helping ensure that all pregnant workers in New York have the support and resources they need to access vital pregnancy-related health care. We are grateful to Governor Hochul for prioritizing maternal and infant health and well-being and for her steadfast commitment to supporting women and families in New York State."

As New York's first mom Governor, Governor Hochul has continued to build on the state's commitment to maternal health care and supporting families. In addition to paid prenatal leave, as part of her broader plan to improve maternal and infant mortality, the Governor established 12 weeks of paid parental leave benefits for more than 80 percent of the state workforce, extended postpartum coverage for up to a full year for Medicaid and Child Health Plus enrollees, established statewide Medicaid coverage for doulas, created the state's first doula directory, and has taken steps to eliminate cost-sharing for certain pregnancy-related benefits for those enrolled in the state's Essential Plan or Qualified Health Plans.

New York's publicly funded child care system - and the new, online application launched in July - is part of the Governor's ongoing effort to make child care more affordable, accessible and equitable for New York families. Governor Hochul has improved access to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by raising the child care income eligibility limit to the federal maximum, capping families' out-of-pocket child care costs, and increasing State reimbursement rates to child care programs. The enacted 2024-25 state budget more than doubled funding forCCAP to $1.8 billion, and in 2023, Governor Hochul also announced a combined $100 million commitment in capital grants for child care center construction and business tax credits for workplace-based child care expansion to address a critical shortage of child care supply in New York State.

Contact the Governor's Press Office