1. Work and Family Policy in 2012: A Feminist Perspective Work and Family Researchers Network June New York City
Heidi Hartmann
President, IWPR
Research Professor, GWU
Editor, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy

2. IWPR Program Areas—25 years
Employment, Education, and the Economy
Work and Family
Poverty and Income Security
Health and Safety
Democracy and Society

3. IWPR Mission Statement
The Institute for Women's Policy Research conducts rigorous research and disseminates its findings to address the needs of women, promote public dialogue, and strengthen families, communities, and societies.

4. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy
Please submit your policy relevant work and family research to JWPP

5. Today’s Talk Doing policy research on work-family issues—FMLA example
Focusing on the Cost of Care
A proposal for adding care giving credits to Social Security
A brief policy agenda for 2012
Apologies for US focus—our non US participants can either gloat or feel sorry for us

7. 3 types of work family policies
Those only the employer can provide—job guarantee, flexibility, alternative work schedules (regulation. incentives)
Income replacement while care giving—maternity, parental, family care leave (social insurance, general revenue, employer mandate)
Subsidies for costs of caring—child care, elder care, long term work absences (ditto)
Heidi Hartmann, Ariane Hegewisch, and Vicky Lovell,
An Economy that Puts Families First: Expanding the Social Contract to include Family Care,
EPI Briefing Paper #190, 2007.

8. Women Work for Pay and Provide Family Care/Care Work without Pay
Care for family

9. The Care Economy —a Feminist Issue
Women are following care work out of the home into the marketplace.
AND
Women continue to do the majority of care work still done at home.

10. A modest proposal
Add caregiving credits to our existing Social Security system as a way to prevent caregiving from reducing (mainly)women’s retirement income
Most other wealthy nations have them
Social Security is our social welfare state in the US and it’s a good base for expansion, almost the only one we have.

11. Brief overview of US Social Security System
Paid for by 6.2% contribution by worker and employer
Benefits based on highest 35 years—0 earning years bring benefits down
Caregiving compensated for only for married women via spousal benefits = 50% of hubby’s benefits
Single mothers, divorced wives with less than 10 yrs of marriage get 0 beyond what is based on own earnings

12. Positive aspects of US Social Security System for Women
Covers everyone who worked at least 10 years at $4,520 per year.
Provides benefits to wives whether they worked for pay or not, former wives (provided they had a ten-year marriage), and widows.
Fully adjusted for inflation (especially important for long-lived women).
Returns more to lower earning than higher earning workers (redistributive).

13. Why we need caregiving credits: Boomers more likely to rely on own earnings records
Boomer women worked twice as much as their moms.
Got more education, earned more.
Married less, divorced more, had fewer children, had children outside of marriage.

14. Non-marriage is especially high for Black women.
Source: Holden, Karen and Angela Fontes “Economic Security in Retirement: How Changes in Employment and Marriage Have Altered Retirement-related Economic Risks for Women.” Journal of Women, Politics, & Policy 30(2/3).

15. What a Caregiving Credit Could Look Like
Provide an earnings credit for every year with a child under 6 (available to either or both parents and/or non-married partners)
Example: Parents of young children would receive an earnings credit of at least $21,000 per year even if they earned nothing.
$21,000 = ½ US median wage
Reward work effort so that earners have somewhat more $ on their record than non-earners.
Earnings
Benefit Amount
Total Amount Credited $0
$21,000
$5,000
$18,273
$23,273
$10,000
$15,545
$25,545
$9,545
$30,545
$35,000
$1,909
$36,909
$38,500

16. 2012 Policy Agenda—get aggressive
Expand Social Security, don’t cut it—retirement age recently raised to 66 and scheduled to go to 67 (can retire at 62, but steep penalties)
Add to Democratic Party platform
Require parties to increase share of female candidates to 50% by 2024
Follow Australian example—finally got paid parental leave in 2011, leaving US alone in OECD