Alexander examines issues facing working parents
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bringing up baby while holding down a job was the subject of a hearing led by Sen. Lamar Alexander Thursday.
Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., heard from advocates who want Congress to promote policies that would ease burdens faced by families, especially low-income ones, and would give incentives to companies to institute policies such as providing daycare or offering flextime.
Alexander, who said he wanted to “put a spotlight on the subject and learn” about the problems faced by working families, said he was particularly interested in passing welfare reform legislation that would, over White House objections, spend an additional $6 billion on childcare for welfare recipients and the working poor.
Alexander said low-income workers need that kind of help. “People who make less have less flexibility,” he said.
A study released in conjunction with the hearing by the nonprofit Urban Institute found parents of young children and working parents on welfare are the least likely to have access to leave, especially paid leave.
It found more than 58 percent of people who are working and also on welfare have no access to paid leave.
Overall, though, 80 percent of working parents ages 18 to 54 do have access to some paid leave.
Another study released at the hearing and written by the Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit research group, examined workplace trends.
It found 43 percent of U.S. employees have access to traditional flextime, up from 29 percent in 1992. Those workers can generally select their starting and quitting times.
Seventeen percent of workers are in part-time positions, the study said. Only 40 percent of part-time workers are offered health insurance through their jobs, compared to 90 percent of full-time employees, according to the report.
Alexander said he also wants to push policies that would give people extra money, or vouchers, to send children to day care facilities or schools of their choice, including those that might be near parents’ jobs.
Alexander said he was intrigued by the idea of starting a national award competition that would commend companies that institute family friendly policies. Advocates compared the proposed contest to the Malcolm Baldridge Award Congress established in 1987 to recognize companies for their achievements in quality and performance.
Alexander chairs a Senate subcommittee that focuses on children and family issues.
He has reported owning between $1.5 million and $6 million worth of stock in child care company Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. Alexander said Thursday that the Senate Ethics Committee found that his holdings did not present a conflict.
Alexander helped co-found the company, and he said his experience helps him the same way it “might help a farmer on the Agriculture Committee.”
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On the Net:
Sen. Lamar Alexander: http://alexander.senate.gov/index.html
Families and Work Institute: http://www.familiesandwork.org/
Urban Institute: http://www.urban.org/