IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1598 

Expressing support for the designation of the month of October as National 

Work and Family Month. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2010 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself and Mr. PLATTS) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 

and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of the month of 

October as National Work and Family Month. 

Whereas, according to a report entitled ‘‘Attraction and Retention’’ published by an organization called 

WorldatWork, the quality of workers’ jobs and the 

supportiveness of their workplaces are key predictors of 

job productivity, job satisfaction, commitment to employers, and retention; 

Whereas, according to a 2008 report by the Families and 

Work Institute entitled National Study of the Changing 

Workforce, employees with a high level of work-life integration are, compared to employees with moderate or low 

levels of work-life integration, more highly engaged and 

less likely to look for a new job in the next year, and also 


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enjoy better overall health, better mental health, and 

lower levels of stress; 

Whereas, according to a 2004 report entitled ‘‘Overwork in 

America’’, employees who are able to effectively balance 

family and work responsibilities are less likely to report 

making mistakes or feeling resentment toward employers 

and coworkers; 

Whereas, according to the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings released by the Partnership for 

Public Service and American University’s Institute for 

the Study of Public Policy Implementation, work-life balance and a family-friendly culture are among the key 

drivers of employee engagement and satisfaction in the 

Federal workforce; 

Whereas finding a good work-life balance is important for 

workers in multiple generations, as indicated by a 2009 

survey entitled ‘‘Great Expectations! What Students 

Want in an Employer and How Federal Agencies Can 

Deliver It’’, which found that attaining a healthy worklife balance was an important career goal of 66 percent 

of respondents, and a 2008 study entitled ‘‘A Golden Opportunity’’, which found that workers between the ages of 

50 and 65 are a strong source of experienced talent for 

the Federal workforce and that nearly 50 percent of 

these potential workers find flexible work schedules ‘‘extremely appealing’’; 

Whereas, according to research by the Radcliffe Public Policy 

Center in 2000, men in their 20s and 30s and women in 

their 20s, 30s, and 40s identified as the most important 

job characteristic a work schedule that allows them to 

spend time with their families; 


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Whereas, according to research by the Sloan Center for 

Aging and Work, a majority of workers age 53 and older 

attribute their success as an employee, by a great or 

moderate extent, to job flexibility, and also report that, 

to a great extent, job flexibility contributes to an overall 

higher quality of life; 

Whereas employees who are able to effectively balance family 

and work responsibilities feel healthier and more successful in their relationships with their spouses, children, and 

friends; 

Whereas 85 percent of United States wage and salaried workers have immediate, day-to-day family responsibilities 

outside of their jobs; 

Whereas, according to the 2006 American Community Survey, 47 percent of wage and salaried workers are parents 

with children under the age of 18 who live with them at 

least half-time; 

Whereas job flexibility often allows parents to be more involved in their children’s lives, and parental involvement 

is associated with higher child achievement in language 

and mathematics, improved behavior, greater academic 

persistence, and lower dropout rates; 

Whereas a 2000 study entitled Urban Working Families revealed that a lack of job flexibility for parents negatively 

affects child health by preventing children from making 

needed doctors’ appointments and receiving adequate 

early care, which makes illnesses more severe and prolonged; 

Whereas, from 2001 to early 2008, 1,700,000 active duty 

troops have served in Iraq and 600,000 members of the 

National Guard and Reserve (133,000 on more than one 


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tour) have been called up to serve, creating a need for 

policies and programs to help military families adjust to 

the realities that come with having a family member in 

the military; 

Whereas, according to a Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) report, breastfeeding is the most beneficial form of infant nutrition, and the greater the duration of breastfeeding, the lower the odds of pediatric 

overweight and obesity; 

Whereas, according to the CDC, less than half of mothers 

who work full time exclusively breastfeed their newborns; 

Whereas, according to the CDC, employer policies that encourage breastfeeding benefit individual families as well 

as employers by improving productivity and staff loyalty, 

enhancing the employer’s public image, and reducing absenteeism, health care costs, and employee turnover; 

Whereas studies show that a third of children and adolescents 

in the United States are obese or overweight and that 

healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and 

physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese 

and developing related diseases; 

Whereas studies report that family rituals, such as sitting 

down to dinner together and sharing activities on weekends and holidays, positively influence children’s health 

and development, and that children who ate dinner with 

their family every day consumed nearly a full serving 

more of fruits and vegetables per day than those who 

never ate family dinners or only did so occasionally; 

Whereas unpaid family caregivers will likely continue to be 

the largest source of long-term care for elderly United 

States citizens, and the Department of Health and 


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Human Services estimates the number of such caregivers 

to reach 37,000,000 by 2050, an increase of 85 percent 

from 2000, as baby boomers reach retirement age in 

record numbers; and 

Whereas the month of October would be an appropriate 

month to designate as National Work and Family Month: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of National Work 

3 and Family Month; 

4 (2) recognizes the importance of balancing work 

5 and family to job productivity and healthy families; 

6 (3) recognizes that an important job char7 acteristic is a work schedule that allows employees 

8 to spend time with families; 

9 (4) supports the goals and ideals of National 

10 Work and Family Month, and urges public officials, 

11 employers, employees, and the general public to 

12 work together to achieve more balance between work 

13 and family; and 

14 (5) requests that the President issue a procla15 mation calling upon the people of the United States 

16 to observe National Work and Family Month with 

17 appropriate ceremonies and activities. 

Æ 


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