Dependent Care in the 21st
Century: Issues, trends and
opportunities
Dr. Lisa Stewart, Assistant Professor
Master of Social Work Program
CSUMB
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Who am I?
• Early Career WorkFamily Scholar 2010 2012
• Disability, work and
family researcher
2005- present
• CSUMB faculty
member
• Mom!
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Workshop Agenda
• Introduction
• What is the context of work and family in the
21st century?
• What top challenges do workers face when
attempting to manage work and family care?
• What do current research, policy and practice
trends imply for creating a sustainable
workforce?
• Breakout session: Your challenges and
support-strategies
• Wrap up: Where can we go from here?
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What are the goals of the Work-Family in the
21st Century Workplace Series?
• To increase knowledge about the issues facing
today’s working families.
• To increase knowledge regarding flexibility
policies, research and supports available to
workers in the U.S.
• To begin conversations about the challenges faced
by staff, faculty and managers when attempting to
manage work and family roles.
• To building capacity across campus for creating
‘win-win’ solutions.
• To work toward a vision of what it means to be
“family-friendly” at CSUMB.
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Work-family in 21st Century: Current trends
WHAT DOES TODAY’S
WORKPLACE LOOK LIKE?
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Women comprise nearly one-half of the labor
force, and in more than 60 percent of households
with children, all adults are working.
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Fathers are increasing time spent on family
responsibilities.
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Almost two-thirds of people providing unpaid
eldercare have jobs, with about half of caregivers
working full-time in addition to their caregiving
duties.
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Both men and women face challenges as they try
to balance work and family.
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What creates conflict?
Work-family conflict
Family-work conflict
STRESS
• Family demands
• Work demands
• Time pressures
• Time pressures
• Resource availability • Resource availability
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Workplaces have not kept up to 21st
century needs
• 89% of Americans believe employers should
offer workers flexibility to meet their families’
needs, so long as the work gets done.
• 52% of workers feel they could do their job
better if they were allowed a more flexible
schedule.
• 36% of parents believe they’ve been passed
over for a promotion, a raise, or a new job due to
a need for a flexible work schedule.
Nielsen (2014). Harris Poll of 4, 096 U.S. Adults, conducted
online May 27-30, 2014.
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Family leave and workplace flexibility:
Current solution to the work-family bind
• Paid family medical
leaves
• Workplace flexibility
policies
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The Business case for paid leaves and
workplace flexibility
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Prevalence of Access to Paid
Leave/Flexibility Policies in the U.S.
Workforce
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Only 60% of workers in the U.S.
have access to unpaid family leave.
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How many U.S. organizations offer
flexibility in place of work?
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Example: What happens when you
offer workplace flexibility?
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Work-family in 21st Century: Workplace solutions
WHAT CAN WE DO TO CREATE A
SUSTAINABLE WORKFORCE?
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Overview: The White House Summit on
Working Families
• Hosted by Center for American Progress, the U.S. DOL
and the White House in Washington, DC June 23, 2014.
• Brought together 1,200 business people, academics,
labor leaders, legislators, advocates, the media and
ordinary people to discuss issues facing today’s working
families.
• Involved panel discussions, research presentations and
hands on-workshops that explored the issues facing
families.
• Focused on the business case for better policies to
support working families.
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• Highlighted model workplace policy and practices.
Key Messages:
• To create workplaces that are competitive
in today’s economy requires we make use
of the talented labor pool we have.
• Need to think more about how work and
family interact.
• By supporting workers we are increasing
businesses bottom line.
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Background: Achieving Economic
Security for Working Families
Strategies to Support Working Families
Workplace flexibility
Workplace discrimination
Paid leaves
Career advancement
Equal pay
Worker retention and promotion
Access to family and medical leave
Elder care and child care
Opportunities for low-wage workers
Early childhood education
Access to sick days
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Creating a Sustainable Workplace: Further
Recommendations from the Council of Economic
Advisers
• R.O.W.E.
• Right to request policies
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Supporting Working Families at CSUMB
Opportunities
1. Strengthen
institutional supports
for all workers on
campus.
1. Share what works
with each other.
1. Vision what familyfriendly means on our
campus.
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What could we do to Strengthen Institutional Supports:
Sustainable Career Breaks
Encourage policies and
practices that enable
employees to maintain
positive career involvement
Examples: Career breaks;
part-time work; part-year
work; on-going personal
and work development;
leave control for time off
work, vacations,
sabbaticals.
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What can we do to Strengthen Institutional Supports:
Build a Culture of Positive Workplace Social Support
Degree that workers feel that
their wellbeing is valued by
their organization (supervisors,
coworkers, management).
• Designing work to foster
high social support.
• Cross-train employees to
back each other up.
• Reward helping behavior.
• Develop leaders who
care about workers and
workers who care about
each other.
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What can we do to share what works?
Breakout session
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What Can we do to change the status quo?
Visioning what work and family means to our
campus community
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Endless Possibilities
TO BE CONTINUED….
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