Wake Up! This Is the Reality of Work/Life for American Families
Posted January 21st, 2010 by Gloria PanWe work long hours. We work multiple jobs. We can barely afford healthcare, or we’re doing without. We’re stitching together childcare, or we’re sending our kids to school with H1N1.
We exert ourselves to be good spouses, sons and daughters, parents, members of our community, friends – in snatched moments from being good but insecure employees.
And while we may talk amongst ourselves about hard it is to manage it all, perhaps we feel that this is just life and try to muddle through as best we can, on our own…
…leaving the professional media to define the outlines of America’s work/life story, which has not evolved significantly beyond the 1950’s idea of employee benefits, dad at the office and mom at home — a story that has little to do with our lives today.
Fem2.0 is launching a campaign on Monday, January 25, 2010, to encourage people to speak up and help tell the real story. Wake Up, This Is the Reality! aims to change the way our society talks about work, to shift the story away from privileged “balance” and corporate perspectives to one that reflects how things actually are for millions of Americans and American families. We need this shift if we want policy makers to know how tough it is out here and move them to act on legislation around such issues as paid sick days, healthcare, child and elder care, equal pay, etc.
From January 25 to February 5, 2010, Fem2.0 will present a blog radio series – one program a day, each zooming in on how today’s work environment and policies are impacting a particular community. The series’ purpose is to demonstrate how work/life is NOT just a women’s issue but everyone’s issue.
Tune into Fem2.0 blog radio here.
Fem2.0 Wake Up! Series on Blog Radio
Get program descriptions, here.
- Mon., 1/25, 11:30 AM EST – New Report: The Three Faces of Work/Family Conflict – Can Americans Care For Their Families Without Losing Their Jobs?
- Tues., 1/26, 1:00 PM EST – Work/Life and Men: Superman Versus Family Man
- Wed., 1/27, 1:00 PM EST – Work/Life and the LGBT Community
- Thurs., 1/28, 1:00 PM EST – Crafting Work/Life Policies That Benefit Everyone’s Bottom Line
- Friday, 1/29, 11:30 AM EST – Work Policies and Single Women: An Examination of the Work Issues Facing Single Women, With or Without Children
- Mon., 2/1, 1:00 PM EST – Work/Life and Latino Families: How Are Latino Families Changing as Latinas Bring Home the Bacon?
- Tues., 2/2, 1:00 PM EST – Work/Life and Older Americans: Taking Care of Oneself and Take Care of Others
- Wed., 2/3, 1:00 PM EST – Work/Life and the Military: What It’s Really Like to Work and Serve
- Thurs., 2/4, 1:00 PM EST – Working Title: Work/Life and African-American Families
- Fri., 2/5, 1:00 PM EST – Fighting Words! Creating Change for Working Families
There will also be Twittercasting (#fem2 and #worklife) and online chat that will take place around each program.
One Comment
This is a fabulous initiative. I struggle with the reality of this country: we are workers first and parents second. Choosing to be at home–for most of us–means making a large financial sacrifice. So this becomes the choice: do you take a hit financially and stay home or do you work outside the home and put your child in a school that espouses values that may not match your own? Good schools, quality childcare, work with child care options available on premises, adequate vacation time, paid maternity leave–these are not dreams, they exist in other countries. Why not here? Because this is not the priority in this country. maybe it never will be.
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