Making the Economy Work for the Many, Not the Few -- Step 2: Make Work Family Friendly

Robert Reich Former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley

Making the Economy Work for the Many, Not the Few -- Step 2: Make Work Family Friendly

No one should have to choose between providing for your family and being a good parent. Yet "family-friendly" work is still a pipe dream.

Today most parents are also wage earners, whether in a two-parent or single-parent household. Politicians talk a lot about the importance of family, but must do a better job delivering.

Specifically:

- Require that women receive equal pay for equal work.

- Require employers provide predictable hours so workers can plan to be home when their family needs them.

- Provide universal childcare -- pre-school and after-school -- financed by employers and taxpayers.

- Require that employers offer paid family and medical leave.

The richest nation in the world should enable its workers to be good parents. Family-friendly work isn't a luxury. People who work hard deserve to make more than a decent living. They and their families deserve a decent life.

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This has been reposted from The Huffington Post.

Robert Reich served as the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor and now is a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. His latest book, Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future, is now in bookstores. His earlier book, “Supercapitalism,” is out in paperback. For copies of his articles, books, and public radio commentaries, go to www.RobertReich.org.