Lynn C. Woolsey: “Many years ago, when my children were not parents themselves, I was working full time outside of the home, with four…”

“Many years ago, when my children were not parents themselves, I was working full time outside of the home, with four children. It was a struggle to meet both the needs of my family as well as the responsibilities of my job. And as the human resources manager of a startup electronics company about 30 years ago, I was aware that many of my employees were going through the very same struggles that I was. Unfortunately, some 30 years later, nearly every single parent is under these pressures--men as well as women. And they are desperate for work-life balance. One of the main reasons I ran for Congress over 18 years ago was to fight for working families. I was a new Member when we passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, and I knew what an important step we were taking, particularly for working women, to provide job-protected family and medical leave for certain workers, even though it was unpaid. But the benefits provided by FMLA are not sufficient. While more than 100 million leaves have been taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act, nearly two in three workers are not covered by the Act. And even if they are, most can't take advantage of its provisions because they simply cannot afford to take unpaid leave. Sadly, the United States lags far behind the rest of the world in providing work-life benefits to their employees. It is unacceptable that our country, which is the number one economy in the world, can barely compete with developing nations in this arena.”