The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 23, 2014
FACT SHEET: The White House Summit On Working Families
Fighting for Working Families; Strengthening Our
Economy
Building on actions he already has taken to help create real,
lasting economic security for working families, today the President
will announce a set of concrete steps that will create
more opportunities for hardworking families to get ahead. Together
with the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Center for American
Progress (CAP), the White House is hosting the Summit on Working
Families to set an agenda for a 21st century workplace. This fact sheet
lays out these new announcements, along with a series of reports the White House
Council of Economic Advisers has released ahead of todayfs Summit.
Already this year, the President has acted to move our country forward
by raising the minimum wage for federal contractors, expanding
retirement opportunities, strengthening overtime protections, and
signing an Executive Order that protects workers from being
retaliated against by their boss if they discuss their wages. At
the Summit, the President will build on this progress by signing a
Presidential Memorandum to help families better balance work and
spending time at home, and announcing a package of both public and private
sector efforts that will take a strong stand to protect pregnant
working women, increase investments for research to understand
the economic benefits of paid leave, expand apprenticeships for women,
target resources to help more women enter higher-paying STEM and other fields,
and make child care more affordable for working families.
The Presidentfs approach to the kitchen table issues that working
families deal with every day is grounded in his own personal
experience as well as his understanding that in order to stay competitive
and economically successful, American businesses and our country as a
whole need to bring our workplace policies into the
21st century. From growing up as the son of a single mom, to
paying off his student loans, to raising two young daughters in a
household with two working parents, the President learned the value
of hard work and understands many of the struggles that American
families face today.
Since the beginning of his Administration, President Obama has focused
on how we can create real, lasting security for the middle class by
strengthening our nationfs workplaces to better support working
families. Yet, while studies show that family-friendly workplace
policies can enhance businessesf profitability, many companies report
that they lack the tools and expertise to redesign their workplaces to
capture this competitive advantage. Too many workplaces still have
policies that belong in a Mad Men episode – not the
year 2014. When nearly half of all parents have said gnoh to a
job because it would be too hard on their families, itfs time to
act. The President will continue to work with Congress and make
progress on his own because working families can no longer wait for
Washington to move forward.
Todayfs Summit explores how, as the demographics of our
workforce change, our workplaces can change to support
working families, boost businessesf bottom lines, and ensure Americafs
global economic competitiveness in the
coming decades. The Summit will convene businesses,
economists, labor leaders, legislators, advocates and the media for a
discussion on issues facing the entire spectrum of working families
– from low-wage workers to corporate executives, from young parents
to baby boomers caring for their aging parents. The important efforts
the President will announce today reflect our belief that we all have a role to
play in changing our countryfs workplace policies and will be built upon coming
out of todayfs Summit. In addition, today the White House Council of Economic
Advisers is releasing a new report: gWork-Life Balance and the Economics of
Workplace Flexibility,h which is attached and available here.
In addition, in recent days, CEA has also released the following reports:
- gThe Economics of Paid and Unpaid Leave,h click
here to access the report.
- gNine Facts about American Families and Workh click
here to access the report.
A Year of Action: Building on Progress
EXPANDING WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY AND EMPOWERING
WORKERS
Taking Executive Action to Expand Workplace
Flexibility. The President will issue a Presidential Memorandum
directing federal agencies to implement existing efforts to expand flexible
workplace policies to the maximum possible extent. In support of this goal,
this executive action will direct agencies to review their workplace
flexibilities and programs and report back any best practices and barriers to
their use. In addition, the memorandum will make clear that Federal workers
have the gright to requesth a flexible work arrangement without fear of
retaliation, and will direct agencies to establish procedures for addressing
these requests by employees. Finally, it will call for training all
employees and their supervisors on the effective use of these tools and will
direct the Office of Personnel Management to create a new Workplace Flexibility
Index that will be published online and updated annually to measure agenciesf
success.
Supporting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. While the
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 took a crucial step toward protecting
pregnant workers, too many women still face discrimination in the workplace and
a serious and unmet need for reasonable accommodations that would allow them to
keep working while they are pregnant. For that reason, President Obama will
urge Congress to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would require
employers to make reasonable accommodations to workers who have limitations from
pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions (unless it would impose an
undue hardship on the employer). The legislation also would prohibit
employers from forcing pregnant employees to take paid or unpaid leave if a
reasonable accommodation would allow them to work.
Empowering Pregnant Workers with Better Information About Their
Rights. At the Presidentfs direction, DOL will release a new online map
that will be a one-stop shop where working families can learn about the rights
of pregnant workers in each state. The map will also allow families to see
which states are leading the charge in protecting their rights and which are
lagging behind. This live map will continue to reflect any future changes in
state and federal policy.
Extending Workplace Protections to All Families Equally.
Last year, in United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court
struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as
unconstitutional. President Obama called the Courtfs decision a victory for
same-sex married couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law,
and he instructed the Cabinet to review all relevant federal statutes to ensure
the decision, including its implications for federal benefits and programs, was
implemented swiftly and smoothly. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) announced that it has concluded that review. In almost all instances, the
government is able to extend benefits to same-sex married couples, regardless of
where they live. Also on Friday, DOL announced a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking to amend the definition of a gspouseh under the Family and Medical
Leave Act (FMLA) so that eligible employees in legal same-sex marriages will be
able to take FMLA leave to care for their spouse or family member, regardless of
where they live. This change will ensure that the FMLA is applied to all
families equally, giving spouses in same-sex marriages the same ability as all
spouses to fully exercise their rights and responsibilities to their family.
INCREASING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CHILD
CARE
Promoting Access to Child Care for Workers in Job
Training Programs. DOL will make funds available for technical
skill training grants to provide low-wage individuals opportunities to advance
in their careers in in-demand industries, with $25 million of the competition
focused on addressing barriers to training faced by those with childcare
responsibilities. With the help of additional public or private funding that it
will leverage, these dedicated funds will promote greater availability of
activities such as co-location of training and child care services, access to
unconventional training delivery times or locations, flexibilities related to
scheduling and child care exigencies, and improved access to related child care
services. These funds will give more working families a path to secure, higher
wage jobs by addressing the significant barriers related to finding and
acquiring affordable, high quality child care—including emergency care—while
attending skills training programs. For example, evidence shows that single
parents who receive child care are much more likely to complete job training
programs than those who do not have access to child care. The new
competition, which will be launched next year, will aim to increase
participation and completion rates of those in training by supporting
sustainable and innovative approaches that expand workersf access to child
care.
Expanding Access to High-Quality Child Care. The lack of
quality, affordable child care and preschool has enormous economic implications
for families. Greater availability of high-quality early care and education
enables workers to succeed in their jobs while providing children the resources
needed to support their healthy development and prepare them for success in
school. Today the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) will release a new report on the Obama
Administrationfs investments to expand access to high-quality early care and
education, including efforts under the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge
program, Head Start and Early Head Start, and the Child Care and Development
Fund. The report will highlight state progress on establishing standards and
improving program quality as well as supporting family-friendly policies that
help working parents find high-quality and sustainable child care for their
children.
Supporting High-Quality Early Education for All Children.
The President has proposed a series of new investments that will
establish a continuum of high-quality early learning for a child—beginning at
birth and continuing to age 5—including expanding evidence-based, voluntary home
visits for parents and children, growing the supply of high-quality infant and
toddler care through our new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, and
providing all four-year-old children with access to high-quality preschool.
These investments will help close Americafs school readiness gap and ensure that
children have the chance to enter kindergarten ready for success. In May,
HHS announced a $500 million competitive grant opportunity to support the
expansion of Early Head Start and the creation of Early Head Start-Child Care
Partnerships. In addition, ED will launch a $250 million Race to the Top
competition this year to partner with states and communities to expand access to
high-quality, universal preschool programs. HHS will provide new grants in 2014
to serve additional at-risk families during pregnancy and childrenfs early years
through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.
MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD SOLUTIONS FOR PAID
LEAVE
Supporting the Creation of State Paid Leave
Programs. DOL is targeting funds for Paid Leave Analysis Grants to
fund up to five states to conduct research and feasibility studies that could
support the development or implementation of state paid leave programs. A
preliminary announcement about these grants will be sent this week to all state
Governors. The selection process will give priority to states that can
demonstrate commitment to building a knowledge base needed to implement paid
leave programs, and can present clearly articulated strategies for leveraging
this research to do so.
Providing Additional Research to Inform and Develop Paid Leave
Solutions. DOL is funding two new independent research studies related
to employee leave that will examine how paid leave programs impact employers and
workers. One study is already underway and focuses on state paid parental
leave laws in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The first paper from
this study, released today, analyzes the positive impact of the California law
ten years after implementation. The second study, which begins next month,
will assess the current use of leave by workers and the likely effects of
alternative worker leave policies.
CONTINUING TO CLOSE THE PAY GAP BY INCREASING ACCESS TO
NON-TRADITIONAL OCCUPATIONS
Closing the Gender Pay Gap
and Expanding Womenfs Access to STEM and Other Non-Traditional Occupations.
Ensuring that women earn equal pay is essential to improving the
economic security of American families and the growth of our middle class and
our economy. Women comprise nearly half of the American workforce – yet, on
average, they still earn less than similarly qualified men for doing the same
job. And the pay gap for women of color is even greater. A significant factor
contributing to this persistent gap is the concentration of women in
comparatively lower paying and non-supervisory professions. Many high-paying
jobs are in fields that require scientific knowledge or technical skills, where
women and minorities often have been underrepresented or excluded. For example,
despite accounting for half of the college-educated workforce, in 2010, women
constituted 37 percent of employed individuals with a highest degree in a
science and engineering field and 28 percent of employed individuals in science
and engineering occupations. The promise of equal pay for equal work must also
be a promise of equal access to better paying, STEM and other non-traditional
occupations and the Administration is doing its part to make sure that promise
is kept by:
- Federal Science Agencies Leading Efforts to Increase Women in
STEM Research Careers. The Department of Energy (DOE) will
announce new partnerships with 100kin10 and
US2020 to
expand their Women @ Energy
series profiling women in Federal STEM careers to inspire the next generation
of energy scientists and engineers. The National Science Foundation will
implement nearly a year ahead of schedule cost allowance policies for
childcare at professional conferences that lesson the challenges for working
families. With these and other family friendly policies, Federal science
research agencies are stepping up to reduce the false choice faced by women
and men entering research careers of starting a family or continuing on a
trajectory to productive faculty research positions. And NIH today will
release a comprehensive summary of research on barriers and opportunities to
attract and retain women in biomedical science careers and will use this
evidence base to guide Administration policies to broaden participation and
success in STEM fields.
- Mobilizing Colleges to Improve College Access and Success for
Underserved Students. College and Universities have
launched new programs, scholarships, and outreach, in response to the
President and First Ladyfs call at the White House College Opportunity event
in January 2014, to expand STEM college completion for more underserved
students, including broadening achievement to women and minorities in STEM
fields in which they are under-represented. In particular, significant steps
have been taken by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Harvey
Mudd College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, Wellesley College, and Stony Brook
University.
- Expanding Access to Higher-Paying Jobs in Construction Fields
for Women. Women hold only 2.6 percent of constructions jobs –
and that number is virtually unchanged over the past 35 years. When the
employment rates of women of color in construction are examined, the
statistics are even bleaker. The Administration is working to reverse this
imbalance. Through its Mega-Construction Projects (MCP) Initiative, DOL
convenes parties involved in large-scale, high-profile construction projects
around the country – including contractors, unions, community leaders, and
advocates – to ensure coordination and compliance with equal employment
obligations. Designed to address the historical underrepresentation of
minorities and women in skilled construction trades, the MCP Initiative
enables contractors to identify qualified women and minority workers more
easily.
- Launching a New Public-Private Partnership to
Recruit and Train Women for STEM Fields and
Apprenticeships. Jobs for the Future and Wider Opportunities for
Women are committing to adapt and expand their Pink to Green Tool-Kit from its
current focus on recruiting and retaining women in training programs for green
sector jobs to a broader focus on training in STEM careers that hold the
promise of new and high-potential career paths for women. In particular, JFF
and WOW will work with the Administration to promote the toolkit to potential
applicants for the $100M American Apprenticeship Grants to assist in
increasing the number of women and other underrepresented groups in
apprenticeships.
- Releasing a Resource Guide on Women and Minorities in
Apprenticeships. DOL is releasing a resource guide on women and
minorities in apprenticeships, including tools to help employers and
community-based organizations increase the representation of women and
minorities in apprenticeships, as well as improve performance and completion
rates.
- Creating a Clearinghouse for Women Accessing Non-Traditional
Occupations. DOL is developing a digital clearinghouse to share
the latest and best information on access to non-traditional occupations,
including promising industry practices, job and training opportunities, and
relevant research and data for use by trade associations, training
organizations, employers, and women interested in non-traditional occupations
and apprenticeship opportunities.
- Investments in Research to Understand Barriers Preventing
Womenfs Full Access to Non-Traditional Occupations. ED is
commissioning a study that will examine whether girls and young women in high
school have access to high-quality programs that prepare them for careers that
are non-traditional for women. Similarly, DOL has commissioned studies
that evaluate existing adult and dislocated worker programs to identify the
barriers that women face in accessing non-traditional occupations. DOL soon
will release summary data on womenfs participation in transportation,
technology and manufacturing fields.
- Changing the Odds for Marginalized Girls. Later
this year, ED and Georgetown University will convene thought leaders, policy
makers, practitioners, researchers, advocates and marginalized girls and young
women to focus on ending barriers and other challenges that girls and young
women face in accessing and completing career and technical education and
other rigorous college and career preparation programs. This convening
will produce and help inform policy and programmatic proposals to help disrupt
patterns of gender-based occupational segregation by increasing young womenfs
and girlsf participation in programs that prepare them for high-skill,
high-wage jobs, including non-traditional occupations. The aim is to develop a
going-forward strategy to prepare women and girls for in-demand careers within
high-growth industry sectors.
- Enforcing Federal Employment Nondiscrimination Laws to Ensure
Men and Women Have Equal Access to Job Opportunities. The U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), DOJ, and DOL remain committed
to enforcement of federal laws requiring equal employment opportunity without
regard to gender. Through outreach and technical assistance to foster
voluntary compliance, and through enforcement and litigation where necessary,
EEOC, DOJ and DOL are working to prevent and remedy discriminatory practices
that gsteerh women and men into specific jobs based on gender or impose
barriers to hiring and advancement that exclude qualified women, and also to
prevent and remedy sexual harassment and other practices that can discourage
men and women from working in traditionally gender-segregated
occupations.
- Building an Information Portal for Federal Job-Seekers and
Human Resource Professionals. OPMfs Recruitment
Policy and Outreach Office soon will release a web-based gstudioh for Federal
human resources professionals and for job seekers, including women and
girls. These resources are designed to help job seekers, including women,
enhance their job search in all occupational areas, including STEM and other
hard-to-fill occupations, and those in which they are traditionally
underrepresented.
The Administration is joined in these efforts by private sector and
non-profit partners:
- Attracting New Talent to Technology Careers. The
National Center for Women & Information Technology will announce a new
commitment to add thousands of new technical women to the U.S. talent pool by
2016 through their Pacesetters program, and is expanding access to the
gTransforming Technical Job Adsh initiative, an effort to produce job ads with
more inclusive language to encourage more female applicants, to over 150
corporate and small business and more than 300 college and university partners
in the coming months.
- Reaching Parents with New Tools to Inspire their Daughters to
Become Engineers. The Society of Women Engineers, will release
new online training tools for parents, educators, and mentors to inspire and
encourage more young girls to pursue engineering careers. With funding
from the S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, the online resource gives parents
information and tools to understand how engineering can improve girlsf
academic achievement and career prospects, and gives teachers and mentors
activities to use with students to engage and build their interests in STEM
fields. This new training builds on a series of publicly available tools
to encourage women and girls to pursue and succeed in engineering
careers.
EXPANDING TAX CREDITS THAT SUPPORT WORKING
FAMILIES
Tax Credits for Working Families.
Recognizing the importance of tax relief for working families, the President
enacted, and Congress extended with bipartisan support through 2017, significant
improvements to tax credits for working families. These include expansions to
the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit, which strengthen work
incentives and help parents afford the costs of raising a family, and the
American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps working and middle-class families
pay for college. Together, these improvements provide about $25 billion in tax
relief to 26 million families every year. The Presidentfs Budget proposes to
make these improvements permanent, while doing even more to promote work and
support families through improving tax credits that help families with young
children afford the rising costs of child care, and the EITC for workers without
children, including non-custodial parents.
NEW PRIVATE SECTOR EFFORTS TO BRING SOLUTIONS TO MORE
WORKPLACES
Convening Businesses and Stakeholders to
Identify and Share Innovative Solutions. A group of companies and
businesses, including Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Care.com, Ernst &
Young, Johnson and Johnson, and KPMG are coming together to launch a working
group that that will bring together companies across diverse industries to
explore ways they can address the needs of working families in todayfs changing
economy. In consultation with the Administration, the group will identify ways
that employers can measure their own progress and help ensure they have
effective practices in place to respond to workersf work-life needs, retain the
best talent, and are well-positioned for success in the 21st century
global economy.
Working with Unions and Labor Management Partnerships to Expand
Quality Training Programs to Provide Pathways to Middle-Class Jobs. In
partnership with ED, over forty unions and labor management organizations have
pledged to expand low-skilled workersf access to their training programs and
share best practices on effective workforce and career pathway programs. These
organizations are well-positioned to expand opportunities for women to improve
their foundation skills to access higher-wage occupations in the fields of
healthcare, construction, transportation, and manufacturing. This collaboration
represents partnerships with almost 8,000 employers and will provide
unprecedented access to educational and training opportunities as well as
supportive services necessary for women and working families to be
successful.