WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Better Workplace Policies For Our Families
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, June 21, 2014
WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Better Workplace Policies For Our Families
WASHINGTON, DC – In this week’s message, White House Director of Personnel Management Katherine Archuleta previewed the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families and discussed the basic needs of families across the country. Family leave, childcare, and fair pay will all uplift working mothers and fathers who deserve better workplace policies.
The audio of the address and video of the message will be available online HERE.
Remarks of Katherine Archuleta, Director of the Office of Personnel Management
Spanish Weekly Address
The White House
Hi, everybody. My name is Katherine Archuleta, and I’m the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
On Monday, the President will host the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families.
The President will bring together business leaders, and workers who work for them, to talk about the challenges that working parents face every day, and how we can address them together.
Because in a time when women make up about half of America’s workforce, outdated workplace policies don’t just hold them back – they hold their entire families back.
Take paid family leave, for example. Today, many jobs don’t offer adequate family leave to care for a new baby or an ailing parent, so women can’t afford to be there when their family needs them the most. The United States is one of only three countries in the world that doesn’t offer paid family leave. Three. It’s time to change that.
Childcare is another challenge. Most working families can’t afford thousands of dollars a year for childcare. That leaves moms and dads scrambling just to make sure their kids are safe while they’re at work.
Lots of fathers would also love to be home for their new baby’s first weeks in the world.
Then there’s the issue of fair pay. On average, women are still earning just 77 cents for every dollar that a man does. At a time when more women are their household’s main breadwinner than ever before, that pay gap has real consequences for families.
These are not privileges. These are all basic needs. The good news is, more businesses are embracing family-friendly policies, because they know it’s the key to attracting and retaining talented employees.
Our economy grows best from the middle-out, when everybody participates; and has a fair shot. That’s the America I believe in. That’s the America the President will keep fighting for every day. Thanks, and have a great weekend.
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