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Parents Raising Children: The Workplace U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee

Subcommittee on Children & Families
2004

Testimony from
Ellen Galinsky, President
Families and Work Institute

The workplace today is not our father's workplace. No longer are whistles that signal the start and end of the workday commonplace. No longer are photos of our family members at work the sole symbol of our lives outside of work. No longer is loyalty to employers an automatic promise of a job for life.

A sea change has occurred over the past decades that has affected our families, our society, our economy, our competitiveness, and our global presence. Technology has blurred the lines between work and home. The economy has become global and 24/7. New phrases have entered our vocabularies such as the time squeeze, the time crunch and, I am tempted to say, it goes from "feeling overworked" to "you're fired."

Families and Work Institute conducts the largest and most comprehensive study of the U.S. workforce addressing issues of life on and off the job. Our National Study of the Changing Workforce surveys representative samples of the nation's workforce every five years. We have the most robust data available on U.S. workers from 1992, 1997, and 2002. Prior to Families and Work Institute assuming this leadership role, the U.S. Department of Labor conducted The 1977 Quality of Employment Survey, with a number of parallel questions that make historical comparisons possible. We hope we can tell you just about anything you want to know about changes in the workforce over the past 25 years.

The most recent report from the National Study with findings on flexibility is the focus of my testimony today and will also be the focus of upcoming business forums in eight communities in partnership with the Center For Workforce Preparation, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Emerging Futures, through funding from the Sloan Foundation. There are so many key findings in this report, When Work Works, funded by IBM, that we would be here far too long if we were to review them in detail, but I would like to set the stage by sharing some data that we believe reflect the world according to U.S. employees.

The majority of employees (67%) say they don't have enough time with their children. The majority of employees (63%) say they don't have enough time with their spouses. The majority of employees (55%) also say they don't have enough time for themselves. Before I proceed, I would like to remind you that our data are representative of U.S. employees. They work in all levels of jobs, from gas stations to corner offices, and reflect the genuine diversity of our country.

The 40-hour workweek is also not a reality. Men work an average of 49 hours per week and women work an average of 43.5 hours per week, and that figure includes the one in four women who work part time. Fourteen percent of employees have more than one job. Sixty-one percent of employees-men and women alike-want to work fewer hours than they do.

78 percent of families in 2002 are comprised of dual-income earners. Only 33 percent of fathers are the sole wage earners today, versus 51 percent in 1977. For dual-earner couples with children, combined work hours are now 91 hours per week, up from 81 hours per week in 1977.

45 percent of today's employees feel pulled and stretched thin between their responsibilities at work and at home. In my book Ask the Children, a nationally representative group of children ages eight to 18 were asked for their number one wish to improve their lives. The largest proportion wished that their parents were less tired and stressed, and one in three young people feels very stressed themselves.

Listening to the data I just presented, one might think, "Why don't these employees just make a change? Why don't they adjust their lives? After all this is America, and we believe in choice."

This is where the disconnect becomes evident. Employees do not feel they have a choice or can make these changes.

37 percent of part-time employees prefer to be working full time, however, if you look at employees who are 60 years or older, 57 percent of them prefer to work part-time.

Health insurance, as we all know, is of huge concern to many in our country and is a major consideration in employment and job choice. Only 40 percent of employees in part-time positions are offered health insurance, while 90 percent of employees in full-time positions are offered health insurance. One in five part timers doesn't have health insurance from any source.

As I have stated earlier, more families are finding it necessary to have two incomes to support themselves and so many of the so-called choices families have come with serious consequences - for example, if you work part-time, you may have little or no money to retire on and no access to health insurance, or if you stay home with your children, you may have a very hard time sequencing back to work.

Families and Work Institute also studies what employers have done for employees and there are many, many, many companies that have embraced change and have embraced the need to provide workplace flexibility. So, one might ask, what's the problem?

Of the 43 percent of employees who have access to flextime, 68 percent of men use it, and 79 percent of women use it. But only two in five employees have this access.

37 percent of employees say it is hard to take time off during the workday when personal or family issues arise. Although companies have made strides to change and embrace flexibility, there are many employees who are still struggling to make it work.

For those of us who are parents who work, we know how difficult it is when a child is sick. Fifty-four percent of wage and salaried employees with children say they can't take time off to care for sick children without losing pay, having to use vacation days, or pretending they are sick themselves.

With all the technology advancements that have been made, only 11 percent of wage and salaried employees work at home, but 43 percent would like to be able to do so.

So the question becomes, how do we continue to merge employees' needs with those of their employers?

One of the most profound findings in our most recent study, When Work Works, is that 79 percent of all employees would like more flexibility. This includes men, women, parents, non-parents, employees with and without elder care responsibilities, employees at different earning levels, employees in goods-producing industries and service industries.

Wanting flexibility, being offered flexibility, and actually using flexibility are three completely different things. This is because, even for those who have access to it, there is a perceived penalty associated with its use. Thirty-nine percent of employees believe that using flexibility would jeopardize their career advancement. So obviously employees want flexibility without jeopardy. But does promoting flexibility become an employee advocacy position? Not at all!

In the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, we examined a number of potential predictors of an effective workplace. Flexibility turns out, perhaps surprisingly, to be a key ingredient, along with learning opportunities and the support of supervisors and coworkers.

In organizations that have high levels of flexibility, 66 percent of employees report high levels of job engagement and commitment. We all know how important it is for employers to have employees who are willing to go that extra mile to help their organizations succeed.

In organizations that have high levels of flexibility, 72 percent of employees plan to remain with their employers for the next year. Retaining employees has direct cost advantages for business. The investment in recruitment, the investment in training, and the investment in replacement of personnel all decrease significantly.

Flexibility is even linked with better mental health.

We understand that change is tough. But the old workplace doesn't fit the new workforce and the new economy. Work is a value that Americans hold dear. It is more evident than ever that when work "works," employees and employers prosper.

I suggest a three-pronged approach to address these issues: engage in study, take action, and raise awareness.

1. Engage in Study. I recommend that a high-level commission be established on how to make work "work." It would include very senior representatives of government, business and unions. It would take a fresh look at some of the undercover, but critically important issues of today, especially the high level of workplace stress, its impact on families and work, and the attendant health care repercussions and cost. This commission would come up with recommendations for action and an implementation plan.

2. Take action. I recommend the funding of innovative pilots and programs that include rigorous assessments of the results of these interventions that address some of the tough issues in workplace flexibility such as:

• the need to remove some of the barriers, including the pension barriers, to enable the 57 percent of older workers who want to work part-time do so;
• the need to provide health care for part-timers;
• the need to provide short leaves for parents of sick children;

the need to provide flexible career options for the one in four women who want to take time out of the workforce when they have children and the provision of on-ramps that enable them to sequence back to work. These options also need to include fathers and others who need leaves when they have teenagers, elder care responsibilities, compassion care responsibilities and so forth.

3. Raise awareness. I recommend a campaign to raise awareness about how to change the workplace to address 21st century challenges and opportunities and especially to reduce the conflict between work and family that millions now feel.

Thank you very much for this opportunity to give voice to these issues and to share our findings that solutions that meet the needs of business and of working families are not only possible, but imperative.