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Making the Economy Work for the Many, Not the Few -- Step 2: Make Work Family Friendly

No one should have to choose between providing for your family and being a good parent. Yet "family-friendly" work is still a pipe dream.
Robert Reich
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Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; author, 'Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few''

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; author, 'Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few''
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No one should have to choose between providing for your family and being a good parent. Yet "family-friendly" work is still a pipe dream.

Today most parents are also wage earners, whether in a two-parent or single-parent household. Politicians talk a lot about the importance of family, but must do a better job delivering.

Specifically:

- Require that women receive equal pay for equal work.

- Require employers provide predictable hours so workers can plan to be home when their family needs them.

- Provide universal childcare -- pre-school and after-school -- financed by employers and taxpayers.

- Require that employers offer paid family and medical leave.

The richest nation in the world should enable its workers to be good parents. Family-friendly work isn't a luxury. People who work hard deserve to make more than a decent living. They and their families deserve a decent life.

ROBERT B. REICH's film "Inequality for All" is now available on DVD and blu-ray, and on Netflix. Watch the trailer below:

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