36
In 2009, the overall labor force participation rate of mothers with children under 18 years of age was 71.4%, and it was 93.8% for fathers.
the clinic. It was billed as a meeting to discuss new and current practices in employee benefits. Wanting to prove her professionalism, Tammy arrived early. She and the boss, Tom, were the only ones in the conference room, when he asked, “How was your weekend?” With- out thinking, Tammy replied, “That’s per- sonal!” Tom was undaunted but picked up on the comment. “Speaking of per- sonal,” he continued, “I’m looking for- ward to my children coming to work with me next month to see what I do. Spon- soring a ‘Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day’ is one of the things we will talk about when everyone gets here.” Tammy was surprised, and a bit uncomfortable, as Tom went on to reveal quite a bit about his personal life. He said that before he was divorced, he had two sons, who are now teenagers looking for summer jobs. With his second wife, he has a 1-year-old girl, and this has gotten him thinking about the challenges fac- ing new parents who must balance work and family. Tammy was amazed to hear Tom talk- ing about family in this way. Her previ- ous employer had made no recognition of employees’ outside affairs, and she had come to believe that it was best to keep the two areas of work and family separate. When the accounting officer, Michael,
arrived, Tammy was further surprised to observe his conversation with Tom. After Tom welcomed him, he asked, “How are your wife and new baby doing?” Michael replied, “The baby is doing well, thank you, and Margaret is quite excited about going back to work. She has just finished 3 months of family leave and is return- ing to work at Go Go. That company is amazing when it comes to accommodat- ing working parents.” “In what way?” asked Tom. “This company is at the forefront of supporting working parents. Would you believe, the company provides transpor- tation to and from work? This means that they pick her up at the house and take her to work in a van equipped with WiFi so employees can go right to work. They
figure it saves time, and, of course, it eliminates gasoline expense and parking problems. What a deal!”
“Go Go,” Michael continued, “even
makes take-home dinners available in its cafeteria, so Margaret brings home great meals. Instead of cooking in the evening, we have time to tend to little Katy and get the other kids to their sports practices.” “Also,” Michael went on, “child care is
provided by Go Go, so Margaret has time with Katy during breaks at work and trav- eling to and from work. It’s really great!” Tom was following with great inter-
est everything that Michael said. As other people entered the room, he said to Michael, “Hold the rest of your story. I want you to share this with the others. This is exactly the topic of our meeting.” At this point, Tom gave a general wel- come to everyone and said that he would like to start the meeting. He said, “You know, since I arrived 18 months ago, one of my interests has been building an orga- nizational culture here that affirms and values each person. You’ve embraced my interest, and I think we’ve come a long way in establishing policies and prac- tices that encourage participation and team work, listening to each other and being willing to look at new ventures. I’ve appreciated the way everyone has adapted to our new employee evaluation process, the new services we have added and the remodel of our lunch room.” “Today, I’d like to introduce discus- sion about another way that we can improve the working environment for our employees. I’d like to see us build a truly ‘family-friendly’ culture.” Tom went on to explain his concern. He said, “Since our baby arrived a year ago, I’ve had a chance to view first-hand how a new baby affects a mother’s career—well, actually, the work and family life of both mom and dad. While my wife, Marie, is the one who had a break in her career for 3 months, I’ve noticed that I also feel some stress, being pulled in two directions.” “My wife read in Ellen Galinsky’s
book Ask the Children: What America’s Children Really Think About Working
Trends magazine, September 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84