{"id":3782,"date":"2024-12-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/?p=3782"},"modified":"2024-10-06T14:16:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T19:16:53","slug":"caregivers-support-for-federal-work-family-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/2024\/12\/17\/caregivers-support-for-federal-work-family-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Caregivers\u2019 Support for Federal Work-Family Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

American caregivers want work-family policies.\u00a0 Americans generally support work-family policies<\/a>, like paid family leave and childcare subsidies, yet the United States fails to provide these policies to all families on a federal level.<\/a>\u00a0 Because of the popularity of these programs and the support they would bring to working families<\/a>, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced bills with work-family policies. Yet these bills have not become enacted into law, whether they were introduced by Democrats<\/a> or Republicans<\/a>.\u00a0 Policymakers must unravel the paradox of why these popular policies aren\u2019t gaining enough political support. What drives Americans to support work-family policies, and what gives them pause?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without work-family policies in place, American families were left largely to fend for themselves during the pandemic, when the government provided only temporary cash support<\/a> for families.  Did the need for these policies became even more clear to American caregivers during that time?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked American caregivers in 2022 about their opinions on five work-family policies: (1) paid family leave, (2) subsidized childcare, (3) universal preschool, (4) job protections for caregivers, and (5) access to remote work. <\/p>\n\n\n

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              In interviews conducted over Zoom as the pandemic waned, more than 100 American caregivers told us their opinions on these policies, often explaining their reasoning and the extent to which the pandemic impacted their views.  Using their own words, we analyzed their explanations of their opinions on work-family policies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, we found strong support for all of these policies from respondents of all genders and political ideologies<\/em>, and that support grew higher during the pandemic.  We distilled their reasons for supporting these policies into four key themes.  First, respondents highlighted a governmental responsibility to help American families<\/strong>.  As Caroline, a conservative and mother of 2, stated, \u201cI 100% support [these policies].  I feel like as a country, we need to take care of one another.\u201d  Second, respondents felt that these policies should exist as a tradeoff to American workers for their labor<\/strong>.  Zariya, a moderate and mother of 1, explained: \u201cIf I am getting up and coming to a job every day to make sure that the needs of their job is being met, then that job should be making sure that I am secure in all aspects.\u201d  Respondents also recognized that the federal government could organize the policies in a way to ensure that employers would comply<\/strong>.  Wilson, a conservative and father of 1, would have preferred to leave work-family policies to employers, but he had no confidence that the policies would reach the families in need: \u201cIn a perfect world, employers would offer such things. But I also think that, if they can get away with not <\/em>doing it, they would.\u201d Finally, respondents hoped to see federal work-family policies when making international (or national) comparisons<\/strong>.  Some respondents, like Ethan, a moderate and father of 2, made comparisons within the United States: \u201cI made use of California’s paid family leave program, and I think it was great. So, I would support Congress doing the same.\u201d  Joanna, a liberal and mother of 2, compared U.S. policies to those in other countries: \u201cWe’re the only \u2026 developed nation in the world that doesn’t offer anything to its citizens [for paid family leave], which is just mind blowing.  \u2026It’s a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respondents also shared their concerns and hesitations about these policies, though these were not strong enough reservations for them to oppose the policies.  We distilled these into four themes as well.  First, many respondents were uncomfortable with any directive or mandate from the government<\/strong>, even for policies that they hoped to see enacted.  For example, John, a moderate and father of 2, supported remote work access \u201cas long as it\u2019s [the employer\u2019s] decision\u2014it shouldn\u2019t be mandated that they change anything\u2014but yeah, I think it\u2019s great because a lot of jobs could be done remotely.\u201d  Another major concern arose from the potential for others\u2019 misuse of the policies<\/strong>.  Sam, a conservative and father of 3, suggested that job protections for caregivers should have a means of accountability to limit misuse: \u201cI think that makes sense where if you’re taking it, I think probably they should make you verify that’s what you’re really doing versus \u2018taking care of my sick aunt<\/em>\u2019 for three years.\u201d Respondents also shared a concern that the policies might harm small businesses, misunderstanding how work-family policies would be financed<\/strong>. Suzy, a liberal and mother of 1, was concerned about the financial burden that paid family leave might have, without recognizing the role of government financing: \u201cFor the most part, I\u2019d be for it, but the small businesses, I think it would be really rough on.\u201d  Finally, some respondents wanted to avoid any increased taxes<\/strong> they might face as a result of work-family policies.  Respondents with this concern tended to oppose the policies altogether.  As Shirley, a moderate and mother of 2, explained: \u201cAnything that government provides support for comes out of our paychecks at some point anyway, and we’re already paying enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 American caregivers overwhelmingly support work-family policies: because they know well the challenges and expenses involved in raising children and working, respondents see how these supportive policies could help all<\/em> American families face their costs and pressures.\u00a0 But respondents also shared many reasons for distrust: in other individuals, in increased governmental taxes and regulations, and in the misperceived burden\u2014but real concern\u2014for small businesses.\u00a0 Despite their concerns, especially after the challenges of the pandemic, our respondents sought carefully crafted policies to limit their concerns and provide better opportunities for American families. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American caregivers want work-family policies.\u00a0 Americans generally support work-family policies, like paid family leave and childcare subsidies, yet the United States fails to provide these policies to all families on a federal level.\u00a0 Because of the popularity of these programs and the support they would bring to working families, lawmakers on both sides of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3782"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3787,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3782\/revisions\/3787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}