Focused Read 3 minutes
“U.S. Sen. Tammy
Duckworth arriving at the Capitol with
her new baby
daughter Maile Pearl Bowlsbey for a vote on the Senate floor April
19, 2018 (Source:
Alex Wong/Getty Images)”
"Congress: The most
family-unfriendly workplace in America
Want a more balanced
Congress? Try making it a better place for a parent to work. Here’s
a plan to to fix it.
Over the past few decades, as more women have joined the workforce, the American workplace has —very slowly — begun to become more family friendly. More and more companies offer paid family leave, and many try to offset the costs of child care by offering reimbursements and on-site day care.
But the only institution constitutionally created to reflect our national values — Congress — is arguably the least family friendly institution in the country.
The same people who set policy for millions of families in America serve in a job that literally splits families apart.
If Congress had more family friendly rules, more women would run for office.
And if more women were elected, our laws would be more conducive to the basic struggles most families face — housing, education, health and transportation.
... Two recent events threw a spotlight on the issue of how Congress treats families:
Tammy Duckworth became the first U.S. senator in office to give birth, while Speaker Paul Ryan announced he’ll give up his post because he’s tired of being “a weekend dad.”
As convenient as Ryan’s decision may be, he nevertheless gave voice to the Faustian bargain of missing out on parenthood for the honor of serving in Congress.
As inconvenient — but wonderful and brave — as Duckworth’s choice is likely to be, she will face real challenges. Congress, is notoriously slow to modernize its internal practices:
It has yet to have an official family leave policy and it wasn’t until 2011 that female members had their own restroom off the floor of the House.
... Congress spends roughly 145 days a year in session; it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to leave for the weekend on Thursday afternoon. But that schedule masks the real burdens of the job.
The travel is brutal, and the schedule keeps member of Congress away from family a majority of days during each week for most of the year.
... As former Vice President Joe Biden said in explaining his daily rail commutes home to Delaware from D.C, “I came to realize that a child can hold an important thought, something they want to say to their mom and dad, maybe 12 or 14 hours, and then it’s gone. And when it’s gone, it’s gone.”
The punishment Congress inflicts on families largely explains why it remains an overwhelmingly male institution. Only 20 percent of members are women. ...
Research by American University professor Jennifer Lawless helps demonstrate that men still rule in national public office...Of the 83 members elected for the first time to Congress in 2014, 64 are male and 19 are female. According to Lawless, half of those men, and only one woman, had children still at home – the rest either went for the job because they don’t have children or their offspring are grown.
... Waiting until child rearing is behind them is a familiar path taken by most national female leaders, notably by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the mother of five. My siblings and I were already adults when our mom took office in 1998.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
The Constitution does not dictate the voting schedule of the House or the Senate. That’s the job of the speaker and majority leader, respectively.
There’s no reason Congress can’t adopt innovative new policies that utilize technology the way other sectors have.
This could include, on occasion, absentee voting in support of the family cohesiveness of its members. Rather than voting three days a week, lawmakers could vote just as often — if not more —with flexible time that allows for more time in the home district, serving both constituents and family.
Just this week, the Senate took a small step toward adopting more family friendly rules when it voted to allow senators to bring a baby under the age of 1 onto the floor, a request from Duckworth who said that it would be difficult to vote without such a change.
It passed unanimously, despite some grumbling from older lawmakers.
There has been a lot of talk recently about the historic number of women running for office, from school board to Congress. That’s all good news.
But it doesn’t solve the structural issue that Congress remains unfriendly to families, even as much of the workplace increasingly adopts policies to foster work-life balance.
If serving in D.C. were not such an awful option for parents of young kids, perhaps even more women would run for federal office. ..."
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Curated by Gail Mountain, this blog is often gently edited and/or excerpted for quick reading, with occasional personal commentary in the form of the written word and/or in the form of emphasis noted. Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!
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