Blog

Fair Pay for Home Care Workers Cannot Wait Any Longer

Earlier this year, the Obama administration proposed a promising new rule that would extend basic minimum wage and overtime protections to millions of women and men who provide essential home care to children, parents, grandparents and others in need.

An Energizing Event for Family Friendly Policy Advocates

This month, more than 200 advocates from across the country were here in Washington, D.C., to discuss best practices and next steps in the effort to increase working families' access to paid sick days and paid family and medical leave.

Yahoo Sets an Example by Hiring a Pregnant CEO, But There's More to the Story for Working Mothers Ever since the news broke this week that Yahoo has hired Marissa Mayer to be its new chief executive officer, the media has been abuzz about the fact that she'll be the first-ever pregnant CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Looking Past the 'Having it All' Distraction Yet again, we're in the midst of a media firestorm over women's roles in our workplaces and our families.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act: Ensuring Access to Justice After 'Wal-Mart v. Dukes' Fairness and equal opportunity are among our nation's most basic values. They are especially critical in the workplace due to families' increasing dependence on the wages of both men and women.

15 out of 51? Dads Expect Better This weekend, we celebrate dads. Fathers serve as both breadwinners and caregivers in most families, just as women do. And that's why our nation's dads a well as its moms need workplace policies that are more family friendly.

Think the Wage Gap Is a Myth? Ask Your Doctor A man and his son were in a car accident. Both were taken to the hospital with critical injuries, and the boy was quickly rushed into surgery. The surgeon said, "I can't operate on this boy; he's my son." How is this possible?

We Will Not Give Up on Fair Pay This week, we saw deeply troubling evidence of just how partisan Congress has become.

Fighting Discrimination, Giving Women -- and All Workers -- a Fair Shake This week, members of the Senate have the opportunity to take a stand on an issue of paramount importance to women and their families: either they will move to help stop gender discrimination in wages, or they will turn their backs on women in the workforce and the families who depend on them.

America's Women and Families Deserve a Vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act Next week, the United States Senate has the opportunity to address this appalling wage gap by advancing much-needed legislation called the Paycheck Fairness Act.

An Underhanded Threat to Working Families in Louisiana and Throughout the Country

Over the past year, some workers and their families have rested a little easier knowing they will be able to recover from illness or help a family member do so without sacrificing much-needed income.

New Caregiver Protections for Military Families Are a Step in the Right Direction Our nation's service members make enormous sacrifices for our country - and so do their families.

Beyond Mother's Day: Continuing the Commitment to Working Mothers and Families As families throughout the country were making their Mother's Day plans, some lawmakers were similarly focused on America's women. But unlike the short-lived events of Mother's Day weekend, their attention was on the kind of support and family friendly policies mothers and working families need year round.

On Mother's Day: Expecting Better for All Mothers and Working Families On Sunday, millions of mothers will be celebrated and honored -- some for the first time, and others as part of a fun family ritual.

New Study Shows It's Time to Invest in Paid Leave for U.S. Workers and Families It is no secret that millions of women are both breadwinners and caregivers for their families, the country is rebuilding its economy, and - at the same time - many federal and state lawmakers are trying to figure out how to reduce spending.

Women's Work: A Political Flashpoint and an Urgent Policy Imperative Women's work. Last week, when Hilary Rosen used words she quickly admitted were poorly chosen, we were all reminded that it remains a huge flashpoint in our society.

Supreme Court Erodes State Workers' FMLA Rights By a narrow majority, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals has eroded the right of millions of state workers to take job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) when faced with a serious illness, injury, or pregnancy.

Home Care Workers Deserve Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections Every day, nearly three million home care workers in the United States help the elderly and people with disabilities get the daily assistance they need.

Time for Concrete Action to Stop Discrimination Against Pregnant Women and Caregivers Today, I was honored to join a distinguished group of scholars, advocates, government officials, and legal and policy experts to discuss an issue of critical importance to working women and families in this country: discrimination based on pregnancy and caregiving.

Widespread Inequality in the Restaurant Industry Means Hardship for Women Workers There are more than 10 million restaurant workers in the United States. The majority are women. These are the hosts and hostesses who greet us, the waiters and waitresses who serve us, the bartenders who fill our drink orders, the attendants and dishwashers who clean up after us, set up our tables, and more.