First Lady Michelle Obama talked with guests after President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)Michelle Obama stepped into the policy spotlight as first lady on Thursday at President Barack Obama’s signing of the equal-pay bill. She hailed the legislation as symbolizing her and her husband’s commitment to policies that “help women and men balance their work and family obligations without putting their jobs or their economic security at risk.”
How might Mrs. Obama bring her voice to issues of work-life balance? We asked some experts who have thought deeply about work and families what issues Mrs. Obama should elevate.
- Rebecca M. Blank, senior fellow at Brookings Institution
- Nancy Kalish, co-author of “The Case Against Homework”
- Ilene H. Lang, chief executive of Catalyst
- Wendy Sachs, author of “How She Really Does It”
Good Workers As Good Parents
Rebecca M. Blank, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Clinton administration and writes frequently about labor market and social policy issues.
In the News section
- Times Topics: Michelle Obama
- Wishing for a Mom Like Michelle Obama’s
Michelle Obama knows what it’s like to balance a more-than-full-time job with parenting and did it almost as a single mother when her husband was on the campaign trail. Of course, she also has a mother willing to babysit and the financial ability to pay for good child care when she needs it.
Both men and women struggle with work-family choices, wanting to be good parents but also needing to work full-time. How can Mrs. Obama help these people?
First, she can speak to the importance of employers being willing to recognize that most employees also have family obligations. Too many workers (and especially women) fear they will be punished in the workplace if they occasionally prioritize their children over their jobs.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, enacted under President Bill Clinton, allows people with major family needs to take unpaid time off without retribution and this was an important step. But it doesn’t solve the problem for parents whose children have snow days, or whose child care arrangements fall through, or who want to show up at school occasionally in the afternoon to be part of what’s happening in their child’s classroom.
“Let’s set up our society in a way that recognizes the importance of good child care and good parenting.”
Many parents don’t have flexible jobs, and they can deal with these situations only if they have a boss who will let them occasionally come in early, or work late, or make up time in another way.
Mrs. Obama can make it clear that good employers do this, perhaps by recognizing firms known for their family-friendly practices. This doesn’t mean that parents work fewer hours or work less intensively than others, just that they and other workers who face serious family needs have the ability to go to their boss and say: “Can we work out a way in which I can continue to do my job well, but can also respond to the occasional needs of my children or other family members?”
Second, Mrs. Obama could give recognition to the very real child care needs in this country. In too many communities, high-quality child care slots are limited, or too expensive for many families. For those parents who work weekend or evening hours, there are often no child care options outside of piecing together care from friends and nearby family.
During the last decade, both state and federal child care supplements to lower-income working mothers have become much more available. But there is still a long way to go. When low-income single mothers are asked about the problems they face in holding full-time employment, stable, affordable and high-quality child care is usually the No. 1 topic. Since the mid-1990s, we’ve reorganized our social assistance programs to assume that single mothers will work. If we demand work, we have to make sure that child care is available as well.
There is growing evidence that children’s healthy development is helped by high-quality preschool programs, just as there is evidence that parents who are actively involved in their children’s lives are more effective parents. Let’s set up our society in a way that recognizes the importance of good child care and good parenting. That’s a topic Mrs. Obama can say a lot about in the next four years.
Lengthen School Days
Nancy Kalish is the co-author of “The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It.”
Michelle Obama got off to a great — if uncontroversial — start yesterday by heralding the new law making it easier to challenge pay discrimination according to gender. But that was a slam dunk. After all, who’s going to disagree? If Mrs. Obama truly wants to fulfill her vow of helping American women and their families, she’ll need to do much more — and put her obviously formidable strength to the test.
“If the school day were expanded until at least 5 p.m., it would take a big burden off of parents and allow children to do their homework at school, freeing up the evening for true family time.”
She could start by pledging to extend the school day. As every working mother knows, the fact that our children’s day ends at 3 p.m. while ours ends several hours later wreaks daily havoc on our working lives — and sometimes our ability to have a job at all. At the same time, there are not enough hours in the current school day to fit in everything our children need and would benefit from. As schools increase academic instruction time to prepare for standardized testing, they’ve been slashing physical education, art, music and other activities deemed nonessential. Research shows that all of these are necessary for our children’s proper cognitive development, not to mention happiness.
But if the school day were expanded until at least 5 p.m., it would ensure enough time for such enrichment, eliminate the need to have so many latchkey kids and take a big burden off of parents as well. Children would also have time to do their homework at school, freeing up the evening to be true family time.
Unlike pay equity, there are plenty of people who will object to this one. The costs! The extra work hours for teachers! The bus schedules! But when Mrs. Obama is ready to take a strong stand, this important issue will be waiting for her.
Mirror the Obama Administration
Ilene H. Lang is chief executive of Catalyst, a nonprofit membership organization focused on expanding opportunities for women in the workplace.
Our research at Catalyst shows women are still severely underrepresented in business leadership where they could contribute to rebuilding the economy in turbulent times. But power is in the purse strings: until women are equitably represented in the leadership of the private economic sector, they will be marginalized in every other arena.
What Michelle Obama can do is recommend that American businesses mirror the inclusive Obama administration.
“Women in executive and senior positions can help drive solutions to work-life challenges.”
It’s increasingly obvious that what’s good for women is good for business and good for men. More women in leadership means more customers, more perspectives, more creativity, and more diversity of thought and approach. And there’s a direct financial correlation as well. Our studies found that having a higher percentage of women in senior positions and on corporate boards correlates strongly with better financial performance.
Yet despite some progress, women, including women of color, are still rare in senior corporate leadership. Though women make up 46 percent of the American labor force, they hold only 15 percent of corporate officer positions in the Fortune 500 companies. Of all the chief executives of the Fortune 1000 companies, only 24 are women.
Those companies help set the agenda for the American workplace. Women in executive and senior positions can help drive solutions to work-life challenges — solutions that could benefit all workers as well as their employers.
Encourage Flexibility
Wendy Sachs, vice president of a communications firm, is the author of “How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-at-Work Moms.”
Michelle Obama gets it, and so does her husband. As one of his first orders of business, and let’s be honest, he’s got a lot going on these days, President Obama signed a bill to help ensure that women get the fair pay they deserve. As the father of two girls and the son of a single, working mom, the president made the Lilly Ledbetter case personal. But fair pay is just the beginning. It’s clear that President and Mrs. Obama understand the struggles facing millions of parents as they juggle work and family.
President Obama’s mood is actually reported to be much sunnier now that he can eat breakfast and dinner with his family. He has even commented on the luxury of working from “home.” It’s a shame that more of us can’t do the same.
But at a time when the economy is tanking, unemployment is skyrocketing and families are struggling to pay their heating bills, is this really the moment for moms to ask for flexibility in balancing the demands of work and life?
You bet. Yes, we are in tough economic times, but creating flexibility in the work force is not only good for employees, it’s good for business. Studies have found that a flexible work environment helps retain talent. It also creates greater loyalty, a better work ethic, less stress, employee satisfaction and perhaps, most important, a more profitable bottom line for business.
As our first lady and first mom, Michelle Obama could improve the lives of working moms and dads by championing the creation of tax incentives for those businesses that create flexible work environments, including telecommuting, job sharing and condensed work weeks. Flexibility in the workplace should not be a privilege; it should become a right for everyone.
By The Editors
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