Juggle Work And Family?  Take This Quiz

Ever taken a sick day off work?  Try this quiz.  What percentage of American workers do you think are offered paid sick leave by their companies: (a) 46 percent, (b) 67 percent, or (c) 88 percent? 

Now a question for working mothers.  Among married women with children under the age of 6, how big an increase would you guess there has been since 1960 in the number of those who have joined the formal labor force?  Has the percentage: (a) gone up by half, (b) doubled, or (c) tripled? 

A final question: Who generally gets more holidays and vacation days: workers in western Europe or those in the United States? 

The answers suggest that the health care crisis and the continuing economic recession are not the only middle-class issues likely to loom large in the 1992 presidential election.  Millions of Americans also are straining with another problem: juggling work demands with family responsibilities. 

The first question has two correct answers, neither of which is reassuring.  Only 46 percent of employees in small firms have paid sick leave; 67 percent do in large firms.  The answer to the second question is (c).  Among married women with young children, the percentage in the labor force has risen from 19 percent in 1960 to 57 percent in 1988.  And workers in western Europe not only get more holidays and vacation days but also are more likely to receive extensive family leave and publicly subsidized child care. 

An expert panel of the National Research Council on which I served found that employee benefits have failed to keep pace with a labor force increasingly composed of people balancing work demands with family responsibilities.  About half of American workers care for children or other family members.  Fewer than a third of employees have a spouse at home full time. 

Our panel analyzed data from a wide variety of sources and looked beyond political rhetoric to determine what the situation really is with parental leave, flexible hours, health insurance and other benefits.  We found a clear need for more attention to the family concerns of American workers.  Although more and more firms offer family-related benefits, many legitimate needs are not being met.  For instance:

The majority of employed women have no paid leave for pregnancy or childbirth, and many lack unpaid leave as well. 

Roughly 12 million children lack health insurance, even though they live in families that have at least one employed person. 

Only 15 states have enacted parental leave laws, and these laws generally exempt small businesses. 

Minorities and women raising families alone are especially likely to lack benefits since they tend to work for small firms and in part-time jobs.  Smaller firms create many new jobs and are somewhat more likely to offer part-time work and flexible schedules.  But they also usually pay less and have fewer benefits; more than half do not provide paid sick leave. 

Many readers undoubtedly know from experience what these numbers mean in human terms.  Millions of Americans struggle every day to perform well on the job while finding time to care for a sick child, help an elderly parent or manage family crises.  Particularly for single-parent families, there is evidence that economic and psychological stress has negative development effects on children.  Employers suffer, too; data suggest that family responsibilities exacerbate absenteeism and other work-related problems. 

It is clear that the current system of employee benefits in the United States is inadequate for the diverse labor force of the 1990s and beyond.  Improving the situation will not be easy, especially with many companies simply seeking to survive the current recession.  But employers, unions and policy-makers must devise new ways to provide workers with family leave and paid sick leave, with more flexible schedules and work locations, with greater resources to help care for children and elderly or disabled relatives, and with adequate health care coverage. 

Perhaps specific solutions will emerge in the election campaign.  The numbers leave no doubt, however, that millions of Americans are feeling the strain between the conflicting demands of work and family.