Background
One of the most significant trends of the past 50 years has been the movement of women, especially mothers, into the paid labor force. Achieving a sustainable work-life balance is a paramount concern for working women. One-third (1/3) of women believe that the difficulty of combining work and family is their biggest work-related problem, and nearly three-fourths (3/4) think the government should do more to help.
The increasing work commitment of American families is putting new pressure on employers and policymakers to address the problem of work-life balance. BPW Foundation believes that greater attention to work-life policy initiatives is needed and will result in improved employee retention, positive human capital outcomes and a more productive work force.
Legislation
The Healthy Families Act sponsored by Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. DeLauro (D-CT-3) requires employers to offer a minimum of seven (7) paid sick days for full-time workers, allowing workers to care for themselves or immediate family members with a short-term illness or injury.
Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions Act (FIRST Act) sponsored by Rep. Woolsey (D-CA) is an essential step to help employers and working women begin achieving a successful workplace by supporting work-life balance. The FIRST Act will provide grants to the states so they can provide paid leave to working families for the birth or adoption of a child, to recover from serious illness or to care for a seriously ill family member.
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA) sponsored by Rep. Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Webb (D-VA) provides federal employees four (4) weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. This bill recognizes that most families do not have a stay-at-home parent and many struggle to balance work and family responsibilities.
Family and Medical Leave Restoration Act sponsored by Rep. Shea Porter (D-NH) would nullify the harmful regulations issued in December 2008 that modify the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). BPW supports the expansion of FMLA to military families, but opposes the changes which make it harder for other workers to take leave.
The Family Leave Insurance Act sponsored by Sen. Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. (D-CA-13) creates an insurance mechanism in which employees and employers will each pay 50 percent of the premiums and employers will administer payment of benefits, offering up to eight weeks of paid family and medical leave. Employees could take this paid parental leave for birth or adoption of a child or care of a seriously ill child, parent, or spouse.
Updates
NY State Lawmakers Approve New Rights for Domestic Workers June 17, 2010
New York is on its way to requiring overtime pay after eight-hour workdays and at least one day off weekly for more than 200,000 housekeepers, nannies and other domestic workers in the state. The Senate version of the bill guarantees a half-dozen holidays, seven sick days and five vacation days annually, all paid. Gov. David Paterson is expected to sign the law. New York will become the first state establishing those rights for household workers, most of whom are women.
Work-Life Award Bill Stalls June 15, 2010
The House of Representatives failed to passed the Work-Life Balance Award Act (HR 4855). Sponsored by Rep. Woolsey (D-CA), the bill would establish a Work-Life Balance Award to be administered by the Secretary of Labor and given to model employers that have already adopted family-friendly policies. The goal is to recognize the efforts of companies that offer all of their employees—regardless of position and without penalty—access to paid leave and paid sick days, as well as flexibility and control over their work hours.
How to Make Shift Work Family Friendly April 15, 2010
A low-wage workplace can be flexible and family-friendly. This could mean posting schedules farther in advance, making it easier for workers to trade shifts or cross-training more people for the same job. According to a National Institute of Health (NIH) Study on flex-work, the key is making sure managers understand their employees’ predicaments. The NIH matched manager flexibility against various measures of employee well-being and found that the most accommodating managers "had better physical health reports, better sleep quality, higher job satisfaction, and less stress over work-life conflicts."
The Poor, the Professionals, and the Missing Middle February 4, 2010
A new report from Center for American Progress Economist Heather Boushey finds that Americans report sharply higher levels of work-family conflict than do citizens of other industrialized countries. 90 percent of American mothers and 95 percent of American fathers report work-family conflict. Hear more about this report from Heather at BPW Foundation’s Policy and Action Day.
The Unexpected Career February 4, 2010
Not surprisingly, 61% of unpaid caregivers in the United States are women. A caregiver is anyone who provides basic assistance and care for someone frail, disabled or ill and needing help. Caregiving takes many forms from handling daily activities such as bathing, managing medications or preparing meals, to managing finances, transportation, and grocery shopping. About 44 million Americans provide 37 billion hours of unpaid, "informal" care each year for adult family members, friends, and children in need and a majority are women.
In 2007, the estimated economic value of family caregivers' unpaid contributions was at least $375 billion, which is how much it would cost to replace that care with paid services. Caregivers provide life-sustaining, necessary and invaluable support, often working long hours and enduring sometimes heartbreaking conditions. What are we doing to support these men and women and lessen the financial, physical, and emotional burden they face?
In the State of the Union, President Obama proposed two policy initiatives aimed at relieving the financial burden of caregiving on middle-class families. One initiative would nearly double the child and dependent care tax credit for middle class families making under $85,000 a year. Child care costs have grown twice as fast as the median income of families with children since 2000, but the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit has only increased once in 28 years and is not indexed for inflation. Currently, the child care tax credit reimburses 20% of child and dependent care expenses that enable caregivers to work or look for work. Read More >>>
First Lady Gets It When It Comes to Work-Life January 21, 2010
“Things like paid family leave and sick days and affordable childcare should be the norm, not the exception.”
First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Department of Labor (DOL) on January 14, addressing a roomful of DOL employees on the necessity for work-life balance. In her remarks, Mrs. Obama took the time to recognize and thank both veteran agency workers, and those workers just beginning their careers.
After commending the Department for their child care center, Mrs. Obama discussed the need for better policies that would allow parents more flexibility to balance family demands and work. “It's time we viewed family-friendly policies as not just niceties for women but as necessities for every single working American -- men and women -- because more and more men are shouldering that same kind of burden.” Work-life balance is an issue “near and dear” to Mrs. Obama’s heart, involving the “constant struggle” to meet our responsibilities as employees and parents.
Although many employers recognize the value of good work-life policies, we, as a society, “haven't figured it out yet.” Many people don't have access to good family leave policies or any flexibility in the workplace. “So they struggle to find affordable childcare and emergency childcare when their usual arrangements fall through, which they always do -- right?”
“Roughly 40 percent of private-sector employees work at companies that don't offer a single day of paid sick leave.” As a society, we view work-life balance policies as special benefits for women, rather than “essential policies that can benefit everyone in the workplace. Our perception is that, workers that need the time off are less committed, and that places that accommodate these needs “are destined to be less profitable, less productive somehow.” Read More >>>
What Is It Going to Take to Make Work-Life Policy the Norm? January 7, 2010
Over the holidays President Obama signed into law the only piece of work-life legislation to pass Congress in ‘09 – the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act. This new law amends the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to make sure that flight attendants and pilots are able to qualify for FMLA benefits. More than four-fifths of flight attendants are women and due to a quirk in the way their hours are calculated they have been unable to avail themselves of FMLA leave until now.
The FMLA was the first national policy designed to help men and women meet the dual demands of work and family. After nearly a decade of negotiation and compromise, the FMLA was signed by President Clinton in 1993. So far, workers have used it more than 100 million times to take time off without fear of losing their jobs. A 2000 U.S. Department of Labor study found that a vast majority of employers report that FMLA has a positive or neutral effect on productivity (83 percent), profitability (90 percent), and growth (90 percent).
The Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides access to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for events such as the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition, has been a tremendous success but its reach is limited. Other groups that don’t have access to FMLA include: part-time workers, small business employees, farm workers and until two weeks ago, flight attendants and pilots.
The FMLA is the cornerstone of an effective work-life policy, but many workers are not covered by its protections. Nearly 50 percent of workers are not eligible for the FMLA because they work for businesses with fewer than 50 employees or have not been at their jobs long enough to qualify. And part-time workers are also not covered because of the requirement that they work at least 1,250 hours per year. In addition, the FMLA does not provide job protection for other important family responsibilities such as parent-teacher conferences or driving an elderly parent to the doctor. Read More >>>
FMLA Expansion for Flight Attendants Passes December 2, 2009 The House passed the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act (S. 1422). Sponsored by Sen. Murray (D-WA), the legislation clarifies the Family and Medical Leave Act eligibility for airline flight crews. The Senate passed the bill on November 10. This may be the only piece of work-life balance legislation that makes it all the way through Congress this year.
Emergency Flu Legislation Introduced November 17, 2009 Sen. Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Pandemic Protection for Workers, Families, and Businesses Act (H.R. 4092/S. 2790) in response to the H1N1 pandemic. This emergency paid sick day legislation would allow workers to earn up to seven job-protected paid sick days to use for leave due to their own flu-like symptoms, medical diagnosis or preventive care, to care for a sick child, or to care for a child whose school or child care facility has been closed due to the spread of contagious illnesses. This legislation would sunset after two years and would not take place of the Healthy Families Act.
U.S. Lags Behind World on Family Friendly Workplace Policies November 17, 2009 Dr. Jody Heymann released the results of an unprecedented eight-year study comparing the U.S. to other nations on paid sick days, parental leave and other job supports, and their impact on jobs and economic competitiveness. The resulting study, Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth that We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone, shows that there is no relationship between unemployment rates and providing basic protections in a series of critical areas. Data actually indicates that good working conditions can make countries more competitive.
The Cost of Being Sick: H1N1 and Paid Sick Days November 10, 2009 The Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families held a hearing on the need for paid sick days in the midst of the H1N1 pandemic. Nearly half of private-sector workers don't have a single paid sick day to stay home when they or their children come down with the swine flu. Instead they go to work and risk infecting their co-workers because they can’t afford to go without a paycheck. Committee Chair Dodd (D-CT) said that workers cannot follow the CDC’s recommendation to stay home when they have fever if they don’t have paid sick days. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) testified in support of the Health Families Act and mentioned BPW as one of the groups supporting the HFA. Other speakers included Seth D. Harris, Deputy Secretary of Labor, who stressed the Administration’s support for the Healthy Families Act. Dr. Anne Schuchat, M.D. from the Centers for Disease Control was grilled on the shortage of H1N1 vaccine. Read BPW Foundation's testimony.
A Letter-A-Day Keeps Work-Life Issues on the Radar November 4, 2009
The Healthy Families Act coalition has been keeping the pressure on Congress with a Letter-A-Day campaign. BPW Foundation sent letters on November 4.
Who Needs Pesky Paid Time Off? October 29, 2009 One of the great myths of public service is that working for the federal government comes with great benefits. While that may have been true in the past, those benefits have not kept up with the changing demographics of the federal workforce. Right now the federal government lags behind the private sector and the world in family-friendly workplace policies.The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA) will provide federal workers with up to four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. FEPPLA is an important first step toward establishing the federal government as a model employer. FEPPLA will help our federal government recruit and retain dedicated and talented workers, enable working parents to care for and bond with newborns and newly-adopted children, and show that the federal government truly values families. Like many pieces of work-life balance legislation, FEPPLA has passed the House, but remains mired in the Senate. Read More >>>
Maria Shriver Writes a Book about Women October 19, 2009
The Center for American Progress, in partnership with Maria Shriver, has released a new book about how women's changing roles are affecting our major societal institutions, from government and businesses to our faith communities. "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything” outlines how these institutions rely on outdated models of who works and who cares for our families, and examines how all these parts of the culture have responded to one of the greatest social transformations of our time.
Work, Family and … Health October 13, 2009 At a Congressional Briefing, the Work, Family and Health Network released a study on how companies might be able to keep their employees healthier, engaged in their work, more productive, and less likely to quit. The study notes that family friendly workplace polices can improve the health of employees and their families, and may increase productivity and job satisfaction.
Are You Prepared for Flu Season? September 10, 2009
No matter how many years you have been out of school, September will always mean back-to-school time. This year in addition to school supplies and after-school schedules, everyone should be making H1N1 (aka: swine flu) plans. The Centers for Disease Control has said that if you or your children have symptoms of an influenza-like illness, that you should stay home from work and/or keep your children and grandchildren home from school until at least 24 hours after their fever is gone.
Now is the time to review your company sick leave policy. Regardless of the size of the business or the function or services that you provide, all employers should allow and encourage sick workers to stay home without fear of losing their jobs. Employers should develop plans for managing both seasonal and swine flu including encouraging employees who are at-risk for swine flu (pregnant women, health care workers and younger adults) to get the regular flu vaccine AND the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it becomes available in October. The Obama Administration has also gotten on the flu-prevention bandwagon with the creation of the website www.flu.gov. Read More >>>
Flexible Schedules are Good for Retention September 10, 2009
A newly released Deloitte study indicates executives consider flex schedules as one of their top three retention strategies for workers and employees agree. Workers ranked work-life balance as one of their top two deciding factors for whether to stay in a job or take a new one. Retention becomes vital when you consider that the average worker will leave for only a 2% increase in pay. Deloitte is also featured in BPW Foundation’s Successful Workplaces Digest - a practical, easy-to-use publication showcasing inventive ideas, effective programs and applied research to implement workplace policies.
Congress Hears About Workplace Flexibility July 23, 2009 The Joint Economic Committee held a hearing, “Balancing Work and Family in the Recession: How Employees and Employers are Coping.” Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) said, “Workplace flexibility is an inexpensive and effective way to motivate employees by humanizing jobs at a time when so many aspects of our economy are harsh.” Read more about it >>>
BPW Testifies in Support of the FIRST Act and Healthy Families Act June 11, 2009 Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation CEO Deborah L. Frett, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, in support of two important work-life bills – the FIRST Act (HR 2339) and the Healthy Families Act (HR 2460). Ms. Frett said these bills “will start us on the road toward successful workplaces for employers and employees. A successful workplace is one where women can succeed and businesses can profit.”
“Business and Professional Women’s Foundation strongly supports paid leave because many families can not afford to take the unpaid leave provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act. As more working families struggle to make ends meet during the current economic downturn, it is especially important to ensure that workers are not forced to choose between their mortgage and their new children,” stated Frett.
“One of the most significant trends of the past 50 years has been the movement of women, especially mothers, into the paid labor force and the growth of women-owned businesses. Achieving a sustainable work-life balance is of paramount concern for working women and their families. Many women business owners tell us that they left their previous employer to start their own business to have greater work-life balance and they are more likely to offer that flexibility to their employees,” Frett continued. Read the Press Release | Read the Written Testimony
House Passes Expansion of Family Leave for Federal Employees June 4, 2009
The House of Representatives passed the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (HR 626) by a vote of 258-154. BPW has been a longtime supporter of this bill and advocates lobbied on it during Policy and Action Day in March. FEPPLA would give federal employees 4 weeks of paid leave to tend to the birth, adoption or fostering of a child. Click here to find out how your Representative voted.
Under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act workers are entitled to 12 weeks of parental leave, but not necessarily paid leave. Lead sponsor Rep. Maloney (D-NY) said, “As the nation’s largest employer, the federal government should be joining the majority of the private sector and 168 other nations by enacting workplace polices that invest in employees and their children.”
Republicans criticized the bill as being too wasteful a proposal for a recession. Ranking Member Issa offered an amendment that would require federal employees to use all other accrued paid leave before receiving the extra four weeks provided by the bill and would require additional paid parental leave to be treated as a repayable advance. This amendment was defeated.
Two amendments were accepted. One to guarantee that the time federal employees spend on active duty as members of the military Reserves or National Guard be counted toward their employment, for purposes of being eligible for benefits under the bill and amendment and one to instruct the Office of Personnel Management to assess the impact of paid leave on disadvantaged employees and their families for the purposes of increasing paid leave in the future.
The Obama administration issued a policy statement asserting general support for the bill’s “goal.” The bill passed the House overwhelmingly last year, but was never considered by the Senate. Sen. Webb (D-VA) is the Senate sponsor of the companion bill S 354.
Support the Healthy Families Act May 18, 2009
The Healthy Families Act was introduced today by Rep. DeLauro (D-CT) and Sen. Kennedy (D-MA). The Healthy Families Act will guarantee full-time workers 7 paid sick days each year to recover from an illness, care for a sick family member, seek routine medical care, or seek assistance related to domestic violence. Currently, no state or federal law guarantees employees a minimum number of paid sick days. The lack of this benefit has forced millions of Americans to choose between their paychecks and their own health or the health of a family member. BPW is strong supporter of the Healthy Families Act.
The issue of paid sick days is a public health matter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued strong guidance encouraging people with flu symptoms to stay home and encouraging parents to keep sick children at home. Unfortunately, this common-sense recommendation is not an option for millions of workers who have no paid sick days. Contact your member of Congress NOW!
Tell Us Your Paid Sick Leave Story! May 15, 2009
BPW is looking for testimonials from businesses that support the Healthy Families Act. Do you own a business with 15 or more employees? Do you support the Healthy Families Act which provides 7 job-protected paid sick days per year to recover from illness, care for a sick child, spouse, or parent, attend medical appointments, and seek assistance and recover from incidents of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking? Then tell us your story! Include your name, the name of your business, a little bit about what your business does, where you are located, contact information and a couple sentences about why you support the Health Families Act. Send your story to policy@bpwfoundation.org.
Briefing on Women and the Workplace May 13, 2009 Workplace Flexibility 2010, an initiative of Georgetown University Law Center, issued a report calling on the federal government to be "a model employer" by increasing its support for flexible work arrangements such as compressed workweeks and telecommuting. The group recommends that the Office of Personnel Management and the Government Accountability Office each perform annual assessments of flexible work arrangements across the federal government. Read more
Paid Parental Leave Bill Introduced May 8, 2009 Rep. Woolsey (D-CA) introduced the FIRST Act (HR 2339) which would provide grants to states to develop their own paid leave programs. The FIRST (Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions) Act authorizes $1.5 billion in grants to states to implement state paid family leave programs. The grants also can be used for start-up activities to promote state programs, wage replacement, and incentives to small businesses to provide job protection to employees who need leave.
FMLA allows employees to take unpaid leave from work to care for a new baby or to care for oneself, a spouse, child under age 18, or parent who has a serious health condition. Recently, the FMLA was expanded to include leave to care for a seriously injured servicemember or in certain instances when a family member in the military is deployed overseas. The number one reason cited by workers for not taking time off when they are sick is that they can’t afford it.
The Cost of Staying Home Sick May 5, 2009 The New York Times ran an editorial in support of paid sick leave. “If President Obama is serious about responsible action to control infectious disease threats, he should back legislation to grant Americans at least seven paid sick days a year — long enough to stay home until an influenza infection subsides.” Read more
Four Weeks of Paid Leave for Federal Workers Progresses May 8, 2009 The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approvedHR 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA), by voice vote. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) first introduced FEPPLA over tens years ago. It passed the House last year but has never been considered by the Senate. The FEPPLA will guarantee four weeks of paid leave for federally-employed mothers and fathers upon the birth or adoption of a child. As the nation's largest employer, with over 1.8 million employees across the country, the federal government should be a leader in family-friendly workplace policy. Ranking Member Issa (R-NY) opposed the bill and sent a letter saying, “In these perilous economic times, when many in the private sector are having to make difficult cuts, it is inappropriate for us to heap even more generous benefits on federal employees.” BPW is a strong supporter of this bill and advocates lobbied for it during Policy and Action Day 2009.
Swine Flu linked to Paid Sick Days April 28, 2009 Senator Kennedy and Rep. DeLauro sent a letter to fellow members of Congress calling attention to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation that workers stay home to prevent the spread of swine flu, but nearly 50% of private sector workers have no paid sick leave. In the letter, Kennedy and DeLauro asked their colleagues to co-sponsor the Healthy Families Act which would guarantee workers up to seven paid sick days to recover from a short-term illness, to care for a sick family member, to seek routine medical care or to seek assistance related to domestic violence. The Healthy Families Act has not been introduced in the 111th Congress yet, but garnered 24 sponsors in the Senate and 106 in the House during the 110th. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research also picked up on the correlation saying, “The swine flu situation raises the question of the public health costs of failing to provide paid sick days. Despite the public health implications and popular support - four of five Americans think that paid sick days should be a basic labor standard - no national or state laws require that workers have paid sick days.”
Fixing the Bad FMLA Regulations April 28, 2009 BPW joined other groups to urge Congress to support the Family and Medical Leave Restoration Act, which would reverse the harmful and uncessary FMLA regulations issued in November 2008. The regulations restrict access to critical protections that workers have relied on for 15 years—and make it more difficult for workers to take FMLA leave. BPW supported the regulations to extend FMLA to military families, but opposed the changes that make it harder for other workers to take leave. They jeopardize workers’ medical privacy, limit the time available to workers to give notice of their need for leave, increase requirements and procedures when requesting leave and make it more difficult for workers to use paid leave while on FMLA leave, among other things.
Employer Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities April 22, 2009
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a document on best practices to avoid discrimination against workers with caregiving responsibilities, and held a public meeting to discuss the importance of policies that protect caregivers in an economic downturn. The technical assistance document, Employer Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities, is available online. The best practices document supplements Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities, a guidance document issued by the Commission in 2007. The 2007 guidance, examines how federal anti-discrimination laws apply to workers with caregiving responsibilities. Examples include personal or sick leave policies that allow employees to use leave to care for ill family members, flexible work arrangements, part-time opportunities with proportional compensation and benefits, and equal-opportunity policies that address unlawful discrimination against caregivers.
Paid Leave for Federal Employees Passes Subcommittee March 25, 2009
The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee approved the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 626) with no changes. Lead sponsor Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Subcommittee Chair Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) hailed the committee’s action saying, “In this economy, families shouldn’t have to stress over cobbling together accrued sick days and vacation time to care for a newborn infant or newly adopted child—they should be focusing on their new family.” Last year, FEPPLA passed the House in June by a vote of 278 – 146. This year Policy and Action Day attendees will be asking Congress to pass this important piece of work-life balance legislation. Click here to send a letter in support of FEPPLA.
House Committee Hearing on Family Friendly Workplaces March 3, 2009
The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workplace Protections held a hearing to explore how family-friendly policies, such as grants to support state paid leave programs, paid leave, expansions to the Family and Medical Leave Act, and paid sick days make sound economic sense not only in good times, but during recessionary times as well. Chairwoman Woolsey (D-CA) said, “We share President Obama’s optimism that the recovery plan currently being implemented will get people back to work. But in addition, we also need to pass legislation that will help to ease the burden on working families to balance their jobs and their family responsibilities.”
House Passes Leave for Flight Attendants February 13, 2009
On February 9, the House passed a bill (HR 912) to make flight attendants eligible for extended family and medical leave – benefits that were not previously available to them because of the way their work hours are calculated. Last year the bill passed the House by an overwhelming 402-9, this year it was approved by a voice vote which is a signal that the measure is uncontroversial. The bill has never been considered in the Senate.
Milwaukee's Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Enjoined February 13, 2009 On February 6, the Milwaukee paid sick leave law was prevented from going into effect. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce filed an injunction against the law and challenged the legality of the measure, which was passed with 69% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election. Supporters of the law argue that workers should not be forced to choose between being sick or caring for a sick child and a paycheck. Milwaukee is only the third city in the country to pass such an ordinance. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are the others. Read more
Women and Economic Recovery Package February 6, 2009
Congress spent most of the week debating the details of the economic recovery package which remains a top priority especially after news of the unemployment rate jump to 7.6 percent. The country lost more jobs in January than in any month since the end of 1974. The worsening recession is causing pain across the country, especially for the millions of women and families who already struggle to make ends meet. The Obama Administration and House and Senate leaders have been developing a plan for economic recovery to preserve and create jobs, help people through tough times, protect vital public services, and invest in our nation’s future. Both the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on January 28, 2009, and the Senate bill approved by the Finance and Appropriations Committees on January 27, 2009 include a number of measures that are especially important for women and their families. Key provisions to help families include the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA) which gives states incentives to provide unemployment insurance for part-time and low wage workers, a child tax credit which benefits low-income working families, and the expansion of child care and early education programs such as Head Start. Click here for more details on the economic recovery package.
