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Many New Moms Face Hunger Without Paid Leave, Health Department Says

 Thousands of New York's new moms get no paid maternity leave.
Thousands of New York's new moms get no paid maternity leave.
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NEW YORK CITY — Nearly one in four new moms in New York City worry that they do not have enough food to feed themselves and their families, according to a new city health department report — more than 27,000 women annually.

Women who only took unpaid time off while having a baby were more likely to report concerns about having enough food compared with those who had at least some paid maternity leave, the report said.

About half of new mothers in the city have access to at least some paid leave, on par with the rest of the country, according to Labor Department statistics. 

Four in 10 women in the city do not have access to any paid leave or paid time off following the birth of their child, according to the Health Department. But 72 percent of working moms with college degrees have access to paid leave, as opposed to only 40 percent of high school grads.

The disparities between those with and without paid maternity leave are striking, said Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership for Women and Families.

“This report puts into sharp relief the very real challenges that working women are facing,” she said. “It shows the very tangible impact that lack of access to paid leave can have on a family.”

Shabo said the economic challenges new mothers face threaten their health and that of their children.

"I worry about the multiple different pressures — financial, health-related — that are plaguing women when security is of the utmost importance," she said.