Making It Work Better:
Presentation
on Work Family Issues
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
CHILD CARE
What’s happening in families today?
 Three-quarters of all children under age 5 who have
working parents are in some type of child care.
 One in ten children aged 6-12 are alone or with a
sibling under age 13 during the summer.
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
CHILD CARE & INCOME
Low income families spend more.
Chart 1: Child care
Low income families spend 14% of their
earnings on child care while higher income
families spend 7%.
income families
High income families have greater
access to quality or standard child
care.
Children from higher income families much more
likely to be in center-based care, while children
in lower income families are more likely to be
cared for by a relative.
costs for low
14%
86%
Chart 2: Child care
costs for high
income families
7%
93%
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
ELDER CARE
Did you know that 23 million Americans care for
elderly relatives?
 Elder care costs families more than $659,000 over a lifetime
in lost wages, social security and pension contributions.
 $567,000 in lost wages.
 $67,000 in retirement contributions.
 $25,000 in social security benefits.
Source: MetLife “Juggling Act Study 1999”
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
WORK TIME
84% of all workers/caregivers make adjustments
to their work schedules…
 Taking sick leave or vacation time
 Decreasing scheduled work hours
 Taking leaves of absence
 Switching from full time to part-time work
 Resigning or retiring.
Source: MetLife “Juggling Act Study 1999.”
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
WORK TIME
 More than 1/3 of working women with partners or
spouses work different shifts than their partner/spouse.
 80% of men work more than 40 hours a week.
 Men and women who work overtime average an
additional 6.63 hours a week.
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
FAMILY LEAVE
 47% of workers in the US have no paid sick time.
 86 million workers do not have paid sick time that
they can use to care for a sick child.
 34% of parents reported that caring for their sick
child led to difficulties at work.
 84% of workers say it is important to expand the
Family and Medical Leave Act.
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
Why should work and family benefits
be important to employers?
 High Turnover – people leave jobs because they are caregivers
 Higher Education & Training Costs – associated with high
turnover
 Time Lost - to additional phone calls, partial absenteeism when
employee deals with crisis (about 3 days per year)
 Caregivers average 6 days absence per year due to caregiving
responsibilities
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
Supporting work and family initiatives brings
positive return on investments for unions and
employers.
Any funds spent by the employer to help with
caregiving have a payback to the employer of 2.5
to 5 times the cost.
Source: Pfizer, 1997
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
Who is going to take care of you?
 Baby Boomers
77 million
 Generation X
44 million
 Generation Y
60 million
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
CAREGIVERS PROFILE
 Typical caregiver is a married woman in her mid-40s
who works full-time.
 Just over half of all caregivers are employed full-time.
 12% are employed part-time, and 16% are retired
 The average caregiver provides 18 hours of care a
week.
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
 Almost one in five caregivers provide either “constant
care” or at least 40 hours of care a week.
 Many caregivers will spend as many or more years
caring for aging relatives as they spent caring for their
own children.
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
 More than half of employed caregivers have modified
their work schedules or made other accommodations
to their jobs in order to meet caregiving responsibilities.
 One-fifth of caregivers have quit their jobs permanently
or temporarily.
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org
Are you ready for caregiving?
Can you make it work?
Partnering with unions to put families first.
www.working-families.org