To really support dads, Washington needs family-wage jobs and modern workplace standards

On Sunday, dads across Washington State will be celebrated at home as role models, breadwinners, caretakers, parents and more. Certainly a new set of power tools will show dad how much you appreciate him. But no gift can make up for the economic losses that Washington’s men (and their families) have experienced since the beginning of this decade.

Declining real wages and outdated workplace standards have made it more difficult for men to protect their family’s economic security. From 1999 to 2008, average monthly earnings for Washington men declined by about $266 per month in inflation adjusted dollars. This decline has been especially difficult for Washington’s single fathers.

But with more women in the workforce than ever before, shouldn’t families relying on two paychecks be better off? Not necessarily. Despite changes in workforce demographics over the past several decades, median household income in Washington State has actually been on the decline since 2006. And even with more women are in the workforce, gender-based wage disparities persist — with women bringing home just 63% of men’s wages per month.

Wages are just one important indicator of economic security. Fathers like Frank also know how crucial workplace benefits are in maintaining economic security for their family:

FrankFrank, a single father to a 9-year-old son, never had to think about work benefits such as paid sick days when he was married. But now now that he has sole custody of his son, his perspective has changed.

“I never thought about paid sick days because I was married and my wife was always there to take care of our son. It was never an issue.”

Just leaving work early to pick up a sick child from school or taking time away from work to care for an ailing parent can create economic hardship for families living close to the edge. Workplace benefits allow all workers, not just parents, the flexibility to have a child, recover from an illness, or take care of a loved one without risking their job or wages.

In the case of paid sick days, workers are able to take time away from work to deal with the illness of a child, parent, loved one, or oneself. But in Washington state, more than 1 million workers don’t get paid if they are too sick to work.

Research indicates paid sick leave helps children recover more quickly from illness and results in shorter hospital stays, and also provides an economic boost to businesses. Unfortunately, just 41% of full time (and 14% of part time) Washington workers receive paid sick days — leaving dads like Frank the difficult choice between work and family when they or a loved one gets sick.

Sick days are important for short-term illness, but long-term medical issues or the birth/adoption of a new baby can sideline dad for weeks. The current Federal Medical Leave Act requires only unpaid leave and covers only 40% of Washington workers — rendering it virtually meaningless to families living close to the margins.

Washington Family Leave Insurance would provide paid time away for the birth or adoption of a new baby. While the state’s program was passed into law without a funding source (and so isn’t up and running yet), federal start-up funds could help get FLI the ground — and even expand it to cover care for a worker’s own serious medical condition or that of a loved one. Doing so would create a critical economic backstop for the thousands of Washington families that welcome a new baby into their home, or need time to deal with a serious medical issue.

Parenthood isn’t put on hold when dad walks out the door to go to work. Benefits that allow dad to take a paid sick day or for the birth of a child, without risking family economic security, keeps families, businesses and communities strong in Washington. So this Father’s Day, celebrate Dad for maintaining that balance between work and family — and don’t forget the gift!

Why unpaid maternity leave isn’t enough

From the Washington Post:

When it comes to paid maternity leave, the United States is in the postpartum dark ages.

One hundred and seventy-seven nations — including Djibouti, Haiti and Afghanistan — have laws on the books requiring that all women, and in some cases men, receive both income and job-protected time off after the birth of a child. But here, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 provides only unpaid leave, and most working mothers don’t get to stay home with their newborns for the 12 weeks allowed by the law. Many aren’t covered by the FMLA; others can’t afford to take unpaid time off. Some go back to work a few weeks after giving birth, and some go back after mere days.

The century-long battle for maternity leave in America is a story of missed opportunities and historical accidents, further slowed by activists’ miscalculations and some well-funded opposition. In other words: It didn’t have to be this way.

Don’t punish people for getting sick!

Via MomsRising:

We’re moms and dads. We know firsthand how fast the flu travels through our workplaces, schools, and child care centers. We’ve been up at 3 am half-focused on caring for a sick child and half-focused on the related “what ifs?” What if I send her to school sick? Will she get worse, or get others sick? What if I stay home from work with her tomorrow? Will I lose a day’s pay, or even my job? So, we totally get the need for paid sick days. But over 50 million of us aren’t allowed to earn them. [1]

Meanwhile, our elected officials don’t get it – and, not surprisingly, most of them already have paid sick days.

Let’s show our elected officials how important the right to earn paid sick days is for moms and families: Share how having paid sick days has helped you or your business–or share how NOT having paid sick days has impacted your life: http://bit.ly/d0r5MF

MomsRising will compile your experiences into a book and then we’ll deliver that book to members of Congress and other key policy makers for their summer reading along with the message that passing paid sick days is a small thing they can do which can have a big impact on our families’ economic security.

Why are paid sick days so important? Just ask these MomsRising members:

“Because I work 32 hours a week, I am not eligible for any health care, vacation days, paid holidays, or sick days. Therefore, I work when I’m sick, and send my kids to daycare when I think they might be getting sick or before they’re all better, because otherwise I don’t get paid.” –Brooke, MI

“I am a stay at home mom of 3 little ones. My two year old child has leukemia. My older kids’ teachers and nurse call me and let me know what is going around school because staying healthy is so important in our house. Many parents send their kids to school sick-which can result in sickness in our house and put the baby at risk for hospitalization. I do wish people could keep their kids home but understand why they can’t. As a former teacher, I know this also happens to even the teachers not being able to take off work for their own sick child. Everyone benefits if we can take better care of our families.” – Cindy, MO

I don’t know what I would do without paid sick days. My husband lost his job 6 months ago and as the sole wage earner in our family, I would not be able to afford losing a day’s wages by staying home if sick. Our children are grown and on their own, but we have parents that need our help with getting to doctor’s appointments and such, and having paid sick leave available allows us to help take care of ourselves and our families. – Ann, CA

Tell us about what’s happening in your life so we can share your experiences with Congress.

Just finish one of these two sentences: “I need paid sick days because…” or “Without paid sick days I wouldn’t be able to…” here: http://bit.ly/d0r5MF

Paid sick days are good for working families, for public health, and for business. Paid sick days would help contain health care costs through prevention, early detection, and treatment of illness. With paid sick days, families will not be forced to send sick children to school where they will likely infect classmates and teachers; workers with paid sick days would not spread illness to their coworkers and customers. Providing paid sick days turns out to be smart business too because it increases employee morale, productivity at work and reduces costly turnover.

Everyone gets sick. When we’re worried about our kids’ health or our own health, we shouldn’t also have to worry if we’ll still have a job when we get better.

Share your thoughts and experiences now, and we’ll put them all together in one book to educate policy leaders about what’s really going on in our nation: http://bit.ly/d0r5MF

Thank you for all that you do!

[1] Institute for Women’s Policy Research. 2010. “Paid Sick Days Can Help Contain Health Care Costs.” http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/B291HCCosts.pdf