Needed: Family-Friendly Workplaces

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/03/25/needed-family-friendly-workplaces/

Needed: Family-Friendly Workplaces

by James Parks, Mar 25, 2007

U.S. families are working longer and harder and enjoying it less. Every morning, millions of parents try to coordinate schedules so everyone gets to work and school on time before rushing off to work for what probably will be a longer than eight-hour shift.

If they’re lucky, one of the parents will be able to pick up the child at daycare and be home to make sure the children do their homework and eat a decent dinner before going to bed. And if they’re really lucky, the other parent will get home in time to help or to at least spend a few minutes with the other partner before they both drop off to sleep so they can start all over again tomorrow morning.

All this to earn a paycheck that is the same or smaller (when adjusted for inflation) than it was last year while the cost of everything is going up.

American Prospect’s special report on the state of the American family, “Mother Load: Why Can’t America Have A Family-Friendly Workplace?” explains that while the vast majority of mothers of young children are now in the paid labor force, workplace policy has not kept pace with the needs of a changing workforce.

Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, puts it this way:

Compared to a generation ago, families have lost 539 hours per year to the U.S. economy—13.5 weeks of full-time work. Where did the hours go? Intuitively, we all know the answer: Mom got a job. But while families put in more hours at work than their parents did, their inflation-adjusted incomes are only a tad higher. And, when you adjust for the additional hours worked, median living standards are actually lower. Because Mom works, families have been able to keep their incomes from falling—but, this doesn’t mean that the economy is working for families.

Families are angry, frustrated, and confused about this time grab, Boushey writes. She cites a study by the Families and Work Institute in New York, that shows two-thirds of parents say that they don’t have enough time with their children and nearly two-thirds of married workers say that they don’t have enough time with their spouse. Nearly half of all employees with families report conflicts between their job and their family lives, more so than a generation ago.

Today’s workplace often seems stuck in a time warp, modeled for Ward and June Cleaver, when the reality feels more like television’s Survivor, says Jodie Levin-Epstein, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy.

Some employers have adapted and made their workplaces responsive to working parents with flexible scheduling that considers employee preference and paid time off. But many companies’ policies collide with “family values,” Levin-Epstein says.

If Wal-Mart mandates a shift without notice, what happens to the worker’s family when the 10-year-old must make dinner and tuck in the toddler? And what does it say about family values when parents lose wages—or even jobs—if they take a day to care for a sick loved one?

One-third of the respondents to the AFL-CIO’s Ask a Working Woman online survey work evenings, nights and weekends. Two in five women work different shifts than their partners or husbands, and that percentage goes up among African American women: nearly half work different shifts than their significant other. Not only are they working erratic hours, working women also are holding more than one job. More than 20 percent of women surveyed work two or more jobs.

FULL story at link.