The Work and Family Dilemma Perspectives and Guidelines Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility Introduction American Families are in trouble, and the trouble includes the families of working, non-poor Americans. In other words, the families of Middle America, the families of our employees. Many companies have devised and implemented truly helpful programs, and they deserve our commendation for creating the benchmarks. But much is yet to do, and with this report, MCCR intends to contribute thoughtful, practical guidelines for further effort in the business community. We must also remember that work and family is, in the final analysis, a societal issue.
Families are the foundation of every society.
But families cannot perform their function without the help and support of society s larger, secondary institutions. Obviously, business is not the only such institution. Churches, schools, neighborhood organization, and social agencies must all do their part. The challenge to us as business people is to make sure we are doing our part and finding ways to work with and encourage other institutions to do theirs. The Work and Family Dilemma is the product of working people, most of them parents who experience the dilemma's tensions and conflicts every day.