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What Children Need fromTheir Parents’ Employers
Ellen BravoMulti-State Working Families Consortium
Presentation for BUILD ConferenceNovember 16, 2006
Being a Good Family Member Can Cost You Your Job
Not enough time to care: children suffer
Affects many, but especially low-wage
Time to Care More than balance:
basics More than stress: crisis Race as well as class Consequences for kids Affects women most,
but low-wage men, too.
Background: 1978 Pregnancy
Discrimination Act: can’t fire women for
being pregnant – but you don’t have to hold their jobs.
pregnancy like other temporary disabilities – but most women work for firms with no short-term disability plans.
Problems with FMLA
Nearly half the private sector workforce isn’t covered
Doesn’t cover siblings, same-sex partners
Doesn’t cover routine illness
It’s unpaid.
Background: Sick Days Half the workforce –
and ¾ of low-wage workers - have no paid sick days.
Many who do can’t use them to care for sick family members.
Background: 1996 “Welfare as we know it” is
ended -- by those who’ve never known it.
What low-wage women used for family leave
TANF is modeled on low-wage jobs – which forced many onto welfare.
Cut rolls, not poverty
Attitudes, Assumptions ‘Aha’ moments in
Across the Boundaries study of low-wage workers:
“Do you have any idea what my life is like?”
Institutional Policies and Practices
Lack of Policies“If the kids are sick, there’s no
place for them to go. The child care center called and said I had to get my daughter. I was fired.”
-DeNice, rural county outside Eau Claire, WI
Problem Policies Cont’d
Lack of Flexibility:
Not allowed to make up time Rigid use of personal days
At the fringes:
Even “best list” companies fall short
Policies for managers only (e.g., lactation)
Depends on manager discretion
Problem Practices Cont’d “Objective” requirements affecting
women differently Example: no tolerance for lateness
Based on stereotyped view of “ideal worker” as someone with car, phone, back-up
Reality for Low-Wage Workers
“I had 4 jobs - I drove a school bus, delivered newspapers, worked with the Girl Scouts, and sold Tupperware. None of the jobs had benefits.
I had to make hard choices about supporting my kids instead of spending time with them. When my toddler was sick, I took her with me on the bus.”
- Julia, Milwaukee
Affects Men As Well Low-wage men,
especially men of color, have least flexible jobs
Many more would be good fathers if not punished at work
Impact on Parents – and Kids
Work can’t pay if it doesn’t last – and it can’t last if it jeopardizes kids.
Cost of starting over.
Impact on Children Lack of bonding time for
infants Kids go to day care
sick. Kids send themselves
to school sick. Health and learning
problems become disabilities.
What’s at Stake for Low-Wage Workers
High cost of being poor Ability to keep a job,
build assets Well-being of children
and families – job churning contributes to highest child poverty rate in industrialized world
Guarantee for All Some smart
employers will do this on their own.
Not all – like asking 2-year-olds to determine when they need a time out.
Solutions: Public Policy Changes
Family Flexibility Make leave more
accessible Make leave more
affordable Guarantee paid sick days Keep consideration for
chronic conditions Expand definition of
family
Multi-State Working Families ConsortiumEight state coalitions: California,
Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Washington and Wisconsin
Collaborating for more effective action, raise public awareness.
Where We Are Now: Opportunities Reframe the Debate
Values: caring, responsibility, opportunity
Who really values families
Put kids in the center rather than the fringes.
Making Progress in the States
Winning forms of paid leave
expanding TDI to include family leave:
California New Jersey New York
creating new form of social insurance:
Washington Massachusetts
Making Progress in the States
Making progress on guaranteeing protection:
Sick days:
San Francisco, Madison Massachusetts All of us
Family Care: Maine
FMLA for school/day care activities:
Georgia Wisconsin
Increased Collaboration
Connecting the dots:
Labor . Women . Children’s groups . Progressive employers . Family physicians . Faith-based . Disabilities groups . Chronic disease . Alzheimers Associations . AIDS groups . Mental health organizations . PTAs . Principals . School boards . Social workers . Cities/counties groups . Citizen Action . Welfare rights/anti-poverty groups . Aging groups . Foster children . Work-family researchers . Legal groups . Parents of adult disabled . Adoption groups . Immigrant advocates . Groups in communities of color . Human Rights groups . Non-profit associations . Insurers . Women’s business associations . AAUW . YWCA . Planned Parenthood . MomsRising
Lay the groundwork for policy change.
Redefining issues – linking what happens to kids, families with what happens to parents at work.
New Opportunities
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