American workers should be able to depend on their elected officials to help them balance the demands of work and family. That means federal policies that help them make time for routine family responsibilities such as parent-teacher conferences and doctor's visits, while at the same time safeguarding health insurance coverage and job security.

Democrats fought for the Family and Medical Leave Act. Democrats fought to make sure that public and private employers allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the care of a newborn or newly adopted child, for the care of a family member with a serious medical condition, or for their own illness. It also requires employers to maintain health insurance coverage and job protection for the duration of the leave. It sets minimum length of service and hours of work requirements before employees become eligible.

Expanding the availability of child care. Democrats fought to double the number of children receiving child care subsidies to more than two million, but Republicans have proposed to slash child care funding. Democrats also proposed to increase tax credits for child care and provide tax credits to businesses that provide child care services to their employees.