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WASHINGTON, DC --The United States lags behind the rest of the world in family-friendly policies for workers, and Congress needs to find ways to help Americans balance their work and family responsibilities, witnesses told the House Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections today.
“Parents work long hours and commute long distances to put food on the table, and too often they aren’t there to sit down and eat with their kids. Balancing work and family has become a real challenge,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chairwoman of the subcommittee. “It is a shame, too, because studies have shown that family-friendly policies work for both workers and their employers. Family friendly policies increase recruitment and retention rates, decrease absenteeism and improve productivity.”
Woolsey has proposed legislation designed to encourage family-friendly workplaces that would, among other incentives, guarantee paid leave and expand eligibility for family and medical leave.
Missy Quarberg, a former Wal-Mart employee and mother of two special needs children, discussed her family’s struggle to both make a living and take care of the kids.
“No worker, no father, no mother should have to choose between their job and their family,” said Quarberg. “No company, including the company I worked for, should want that. We need policies like paid sick and family leave, flexible working hours and help with child care so that we can do both our jobs: to take care of our family and to hold down a job.”
Studies have confirmed that family-friendly policies not only help parents balance work and family, but also improve employers’ bottom line. These policies increase recruitment and retention rates, decrease absenteeism and improve productivity.
“Americans are struggling to balance work and family, and they want to see policy makers put laws in place that will let them fulfill their responsibilities at work without giving short shrift to their families,” said Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, a member of the group MomsRising.org, an online community and advocacy group of working mothers. “This is crucial, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because in order to have a healthy economy now, as well as in the future, we must also have healthy families.”
In a recent study of over 170 countries, the U.S. was found to be one of only four that does not guarantee paid leave for new mothers. The other three are Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and Liberia. In addition, of the 20 most competitive economies in the world, the U.S. is the only one that does not require businesses to provide paid sick days for its workers.
“These days, with rising costs of living and the need to balance work and family, parents are stretched thin, struggling to make sure their children get the attention and care they deserve. There are a number of critical steps we can take – initiatives which have proven successful at making opportunity real for families and children,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), author of legislation that would provide seven days of paid sick leave for employees.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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