Work hours are increasing—and families are bearing the brunt of the pressure. According to the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, single and dual-earner couples have experienced significant increases in weekly work hours, with the combined weekly work hours (paid and unpaid) at all jobs of all couples increasing from 70 hours to 82 hours in the past 25 years. Over the same period, the combined weekly work hours of dual-earner couples with children under 18 at home has increased by an average 10 hours per week, from 81 hours to 91 hours.
Nearly 65 million women are now in America's workforce, including three-quarters of U.S. mothers of children younger than 18.
Add to these increased work hours the demand for working family members to work odd hours and the pressures of serious time crunches result.
- Nearly three-quarters of working adults say they have little or no control over their work schedules.
- More than one-quarter of working women, including mothers, spend at least some of their nights and weekends at work.
- And nearly half of all women who are married or living with someone work different schedules than their spouses or partners.
These demands on working families have made urgent the need for sound public policies on child care, elder care, family leave and greater worker control over their work schedules.
Bargaining for Work and Family Benefits
More and more, working families are struggling to balance their responsibilities on the job and at home. People are working longer hours, affordable child care is hard to find and more working families are caring for older relatives than ever before. When workers have a voice on the job with a union, they can bargain with their employers for benefits that help them strike a balance. Union activists are winning alternative work schedules, child and elder care help, family leave time and other benefits for working families. You can use these resources to help your union help parents and caregivers balance their home and work responsibilities.
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