CHANGING NEEDS OF AMERICAN
WORKING FAMILIES WFD CONSULTING 135 Beaver Street, Suite 208 Waltham, MA 02452 www.wfd.com
1 © 2013 WFD Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction Recent demographic trends, economic conditions and technological advances are having profound influences on how American families live and how we think about work and careers. Cultural norms are rapidly shifting, roles are changing within families, relationships and involvement with our communities and with others are disappearing while the number of virtual connections to others has skyrocketed. Furthermore, our technology tools are not only changing the way we work but are actually changing the way our brains work. The speed of this social change is unprecedented in modern American culture and we expect these changes to continue at an even faster pace in the future. Although each family is adapting to changing realities, we are largely unaware of the extent of the transitions underway and the implications for family life and the future workforce. The current research sought to understand how these workplace changes, population trends, cultural factors, economic conditions and technology influence families and how US workers are adapting and responding. How are families adapting to social changes, what are the impacts of technology on daily life and are families developing practical solutions to respond to increasing uncertainty and pressures of time and resources? What do American families care about most and how can we help them shape their futures to achieve it? To address these questions, WFD Consulting conducted a national survey with a sample of 1100 working adults and 16 focus groups in 6 cities around the country with working adults from diverse backgrounds in terms of race and ethnicity, income, lifestage and household type. The data were gathered between April and August, 2012. 1
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The online survey was conducted in April 2012, using a national sample of working adults from SurveyMonkey’s ZoomPanel of respondents. We have two subsamples, working parents age 25 to 49, and working adults age 50 or older each with approximately 550 respondents. Focus groups were designed to capture the views of diverse types of workers and families including working parents of children under 6, working parents of 6 to 18 year olds, latino workers, LGBT working parents, African American professionals, workers age 50+, workers caring for grandchildren, workers attending community colleges for retraining, working caregivers of the elderly and senior citizens who are working past age 65. In all 16 groups were conducted in 6 cities across the country.
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Background and Context Since 2010, a confluence of research findings captures some of the profound changes affecting working families today. Below is a summary of major research trends that informed the study.
Demographic trends •
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Only half (51%) of all adults age 18 and older in the United States are currently married compared to 72% in 1960. The percentage of first time marriages dropped by 5% alone between 2009 and 2010. 2 Women are working later into pregnancy and returning to work more rapidly after having their first child. Between 2006 and 2008, about 82% of women who worked during their first pregnancy worked until one month or less before their child’s birth and 59% were back at work three months after the baby’s arrival. This compares to about 35% and 17% respectively between 1961 and 1965. 3 Today’s young men and women in their 20s and 30s have similar desires for life-long committed, egalitarian relationships sharing working and caring responsibilities but women’s “fallback” strategies diverge significantly from those of young men: young women contemplate not finding a suitable partner and anticipate a “self reliant” role in which paid work is essential to their survival while young men envision a “neotraditional” role as the family’s sole breadwinner to avoid the career costs that an egalitarian sharing of family caretaking might have. 4 Twenty-one percent of adults who are 65 and older are in the labor force. A 2011 comparison of Baby Boomer attitudes toward retirement in 2003 and 1997 shows a declining confidence in their economic security and ability to retire. Working Boomers are evenly split between those who “can’t wait to retire” and those who want to keep on working. After the recession of 2008, more feel they must work longer. 5
Technology •
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Children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of television and computer screens. About half of children under 2 watch TV or DVDs for almost two hours on a typical day. In contrast, children are read to for 23 minutes a day. On average, children who use computers start doing so at age 3. Half of children under 8 had access to a mobile device such as a smartphone, a video iPod or a tablet. 6
Pew Research Center analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data. US Census Bureau, November 2011. Gerson, K. 2010. Falling back on Plan B: The children of the gender revolution face uncharted territory. In Risman, B. (Ed.). Families as they really are. New York: W.W. Norton. National Institute on Aging Health and Retirement Study. 2008, HRS; AARP and GFK Custom Research 2011; James J.B., Besen E., Matz-Costa C., & Pitt-Catsouphes M. 2011. Just do it?…maybe not! Insights on activity in later life from the Life & Times in an Aging Society Study. Sloan Center on Aging & Work, Boston College. Common Sense Media, 2011; Kaiser, 2010; Nielsen, January 2010.
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In the past five years, among 8 to 18 year olds, the amount of time spent consuming media daily has increased from 6:21 to 7:38 hours per day and with multitasking, the amount of media consumed is 10:45 hours worth of media content—an increase of almost 2¼ hours each day. Adolescent use of texting and social media is pervasive. More than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day and 22% log on more than 10 times a day. Teenagers spend on average 1.5 hours texting and send 3000 texts a month.
Connections and Relationships •
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In the past 10 years there has been a rapid decline in young adults’ interest in and empathy for other people. A 2010 analysis of data from the University of Michigan study of college students over the past thirty years shows that since the year 2000, there has been a dramatic decline in young people’s interest in other people.7 Only half as many people say that they had four to five confidants as compared to twenty years ago and the number of people stating that there is no one with whom they discuss important matters has tripled in that same time frame. 8 Multitasking, tethering to technology and “skimming” of large amounts of information are producing changes in how the brain works at the cost of lessened ability for complex problem solving, focused attention and control. Workers spend an average of 11 minutes on a project before switching to another, and while focusing on a project, typically change tasks every 3 minutes. It has now been shown that multitasking, or micro-switching between tasks, which was lauded as a critical skill for work and life in the “digital” culture, does not increase efficiency and actually results in poorer performance overall. 9 American mealtime has been redefined due to work hours, overscheduled children and increased mobility. Nearly half of Americans say they eat most meals away from home or on the go. Only 47% of in-home meals include a “fresh” item such as a vegetable, compared to two decades earlier. 10 An intensive study of working families found that 17% of the families consistently ate dinner together. On weekdays, only 16% of their time at home were parents in the same room with at least one child. 11
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Konrath, S., O’Brien, E., and Hsing, C. 2011. Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review. May 2011 15: 180-198 8 Risman, B. (Ed.) 2010. Families as they really are. New York: W.W. Norton, p. 144 citing Putnam, R. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster. 9 Turkle, S. 2011. Alone together; Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books. In Risman, B. (Ed.). Families as they really are. New York: W.W. Norton; Jackson, M. and McKibben, B. 2009. Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. New York: Prometheus. 10 Jackson, M. and McKibben, B. 2009. Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. New York: Prometheus. 11 Elinor Ochs, Merav Shohet The Cultural Structuring of Mealtime Socialization. In Larson, R., Branscomb, K. R., & Wiley, A. R. 1. (2006). Family mealtime as a context of development and socialization. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
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Study Findings The study is organized around three themes: Changing Gender Roles
How are shifts in gender roles at work and at home affecting individual aspirations as well as family dynamics?
Juggling the Time Crunch, Technology and Relationships
How do time pressures of the 24x7 culture affect daily family life and personal relationships? To what extent is pervasive technology a tool or a problem at home? How do families take control of technology to enhance working and caring?
Concerns about the Economy and the Future
What are working parents’ greatest concerns about the future in uncertain times? How are changing economic conditions affecting older workers’ caregiving responsibilities, employment and transition to retirement?
Changing Gender Roles Key Finding: Men’s and women’s actions and attitudes about working and caring are changing; young men are sharing roles but challenges persist. If you ask American families what has changed most in families in recent years, it is father's involvement. Younger mothers report this change about their husbands compared to their fathers, fathers are intentional about it and older workers easily see the contrast between their husbands' roles and their sons' very hands-on, increased involvement with their children. The reasons range from a desire to be more involved to the demands of today's dual earner and single parent family lifestyles. As other surveys have shown, working mothers are more often in dual earner couples or are single parents (see Table 1). Among workers 50 and over, women are again more likely to be in dual earner households than men. And if they are the sole earner, it is because they do not have a spouse or partner. What is noteworthy is the shift in the percentage of young fathers who are in dual earner couples even though they are more likely to have younger children and one might expect that more of their spouse/partners would be at home.
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Table 1: Marital and Household Employment Status
Men
Women
Men
Women
No spouse/partner
10%
25%
22%
37%
Of couples households: Spouse/partner is not employed
30%
10%
30%
13%
Spouse/partner is employed full-time
55%
84%
43%
59%
14%
5%
14%
8%
--
--
12%
20%
Men <40 65% Men 40+ 49%
Spouse/partner is employed part-time Spouse retired
There is a significant shift in men's attitudes about working and caring as well: fathers under 40 (compared with fathers 40-49) are much more likely to see mother's working while raising a family as a necessity and they are more likely to see nurturing, supporting learning and school achievement (often thought of as mother's work) as important to being a good father. We asked a series of questions on necessity and choice in decisions about father’s and mother’s working (see Figure 1). While men in general are less likely to agree that mother’s working is a necessity, the attitudes of working fathers under age 40 are more similar to the attitudes of working mothers than are the attitudes of working fathers 40 to 49. The results show that working women over 50 – both single and partnered – see mother’s working as a necessity, perhaps reflecting their own experience and that of their grown children. 12
12
The survey operationalized concepts based on the work of Kathleen Gerson, NYU GET CITATION.
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Figure 1 For Women the Decision to Work While Raising a Family Is a Necessity % Strongly Agree/ Agree
To understand these changes in attitudes and actions, we asked parents about gender roles across seven domains of parenting such as being a good economic provider, supporting children’s school achievement, and fostering good physical health and well-being (see Figure 2). We found that in five of the seven areas there was very little gender role differentiation in how working fathers or mothers rate the importance of these various parenting roles. 13 Only in the areas of providing economic stability for the family and fostering the child’s interests and talents did we see father and mothers have significantly different gender-specific expectations of parenting roles. Since mothers tended to use the top box score “very important” more than fathers, we compare mothers’ ratings of both genders and then we compare fathers’ ratings of both genders. Thirty-six percent of fathers and 53% of mothers say it is very important for a good mother to provide economic stability for the family but there is a significant difference by father’s age: among younger fathers , 42% say the mother’s economic contribution is “very important” compared to 31% of fathers ages 40 to 49. Even though mothers rate the father’s economic role more important than the mother’s economic role, mothers rate economic contribution as the least important compared to all other aspects of parenting. The other
13
The questions were of the form “To be a good mother, which of the following is it important for the mother to do?” and “To be a good father, which of the following is it important for the father to do?”
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gender role difference concerns fostering children’s talents and interests: 93% of mothers respond that it is very important to being a good mother but fewer rate it as a very important part of the father’s role (75%). On the other hand, only two-thirds of fathers rate this item very important for either parent. Perhaps the added burden mothers place on themselves with every aspect of parenting being very important contributes to “the professionalization of motherhood” or the need to be a “super Mom.”
Figure 2 Factors Rated as “Very Important” to Being a Good Father/Good Mother
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Both working fathers and mothers report being satisfied with their roles and division of responsibility for earning and caring with fathers’ rate of satisfaction somewhat higher than mothers’. We did not find evidence for women's dissatisfaction over men not doing their part as was commonly reported in the past (see Table 2). Table 2: Satisfaction with Gender Roles Fathers
Married/ Partnered Mothers
Satisfied with the division of responsibility for earning money between you and your spouse/partner
76%
69%
Satisfied with the division of responsibilities for parenting and child caring between you and your spouse/partner
80%
69%
But the majority of fathers as well as mothers now report experiencing work-life conflict and stress (see Table 3). 14 Table 3: Work-Life Conflict and Stress Fathers
Mothers
Difficult to manage the demands of work and personal/family life
62%
76%
No matter how hard I work at my job or at home, I just can't get everything done that I need to get done
58%
73%
I frequently feel physically or emotionally drained at the end of the work day
52%
68%
The stress I feel balancing work and personal/family responsibilities affects my health
41%
47%
14
These questions have been used in WFD’s research over the past fifteen years. Comparison to previous studies indicates the level of work-life conflict and stress has increased significantly for fathers.
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Both working mothers and fathers say that more flexibility and control over work hours would help them better manage work and family responsibilities (see Figure 3). And nearly half of parents would be satisfied with trading job challenge or slower advancement in order to spend more time with family. Even a higher percentage of younger fathers would be willing to do so. However, fathers more than mothers fear career jeopardy of taking on a larger caregiving role. These work-life tradeoffs are more pronounced for fathers under 40 compared to fathers only a few years older. Younger fathers define good fathering to include hands-on parenting, they express the desire to be more involved in caregiving but they see career obstacles. For many, less job challenge or slower advancement would be a satisfactory choice. 15 Figure 3: Flexibility and Career Tradeoffs
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These findings extend what Kathleen Gerson reported in her in-depth study of young men and women and their expectations about career and family. That while young men may value more egalitarian caregiving and earning roles, when push comes to shove, their “Plan B” fall back position is to put career primary and leave caregiving to their partners who may choose to work or not to work.
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Juggling the Time Crunch, Relationships and Technology Key Finding: Technology dominates family life, multi-tasking is pervasive and isolation is increasing We asked working adults about their most important relationships and how they spend their out-of-work time. Despite spending many hours each day using technology to communicate, working parents, especially mothers, feel isolated – they lack close relationships with people they can count on for emotional support or with whom they can discuss important matters. Quantitative and qualitative findings reveal this loss of community – the majority of working parents do not have enough time for their spouses, friends or themselves, or to contribute to their communities – this is especially true for working mothers (see Figure 4). Despite making hundreds of friends on FaceBook, social networks are actually shrinking. Working parents average three to four people they can rely on for emotional support or with whom they can discuss important matters. Few know their immediate neighbors or would feel comfortable borrowing a cup of sugar from the person next door. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to where to turn in an emergency or for the kind of advice a trusted friend or more experienced mother in the neighborhood might provide. Lack of time for building and maintaining relationships is seen as the main cause. Figure 4 Amount of Time I Have Is…*
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Although harried, families in the study manage to eat dinner together with all household members present 5 or more times per week; but as many as 24% eat together only once or twice per week and 9% rarely eat together. The use of smart phones during dinner is common and a frequent source of interruption and dissatisfaction. Time alone with spouses or partners is rare but short frequent electronic communications during the work day with spouses are quickly becoming the norm for busy working parents. Four in ten working parents spend time alone with their spouse or partner once a month or less often while one in five working parents now uses email or text as their most frequent form of communication with their spouse or partner. Working parents see the benefits of technology in terms of social interaction with friends and family, and, to some extent, for knowledge and skill development (see Table 4). On the downside, working parents assess the impacts of technology on their focused attention and health less positively, particularly the impact on their own physical activity. Based on quantitative and qualitative findings, it appears that women are appropriating technology (email, Facebook, Skype, etc.) as tools for what they already do well – maintaining connections and building social relationships. In terms of technology’s impacts on children, fathers have more positive views than mothers do about social interaction with peers (61% vs. 47%), physical activity (35% vs. 23%) and health and well-being (39% vs. 28%). Table 4: Positive and Negative Influences of Technology Positive/ Somewhat Positive
Neither Positive nor Negative
Negative/ Somewhat Negative
Relationships with family members who do not live in household
71%
24%
5%
Social interaction with friends
70%
25%
5%
Social interaction with family members in your household
62%
27%
11%
Skill development
54%
35%
10%
Ability to focus and concentrate
40%
37%
24%
Health and well-being
38%
43%
18%
Physical activity
31%
20%
43%
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However, the time crunch and technology result in pervasive multi-tasking, lack of concentration and distraction. Mothers multi-task 60% of their out-of-work time. Men multitask less (45%) but they are not as good at it – they are more distracted and work suffers more (see Table 5). Parents report that children's multi-tasking increases by age to an average of 35% of out-of-school time for teenagers. Table 5: Multi-tasking and Distraction Always/Most of the Time
Sometimes
Rarely/Never
Men55% 55% Women 74%
41%
4%
There are so many things to accomplish in the time I have, that it is difficult to do things as well as I would like
43%
41%
16%
There is so much information to absorb that I read very quickly or only skim the surface to get the basic idea
41%
43%
16%
Men32% 37% Women 28%
35%
32%
There are so many things to accomplish in the time I have, that I often have to do more than one thing at a time
There are so many distractions and interruptions at work that it is difficult to concentrate or give my full attention to specific tasks
Women 28%
There are so many distractions and interruptions at home that it is difficult to concentrate or give my full attention to family members
33%
42%
26%
The amount and constant barrage of information that surrounds me makes me feel overwhelmed
28%
42%
26%
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Concerns about the Economy and the Future Key Finding: Widespread financial concerns about their current situations and their futures; working families question whether they can achieve the American Dream or will do better than the generation before them. We concluded our survey and focus groups with questions about the economy and concerns and the future. Financial concerns about the immediate and longer term were prominent for working parents and working adults age 50 and older. We found a high degree of worry about keeping up with rising food and gas prices and possibility of another recession among half of the respondents (see Table 6). Approximately one quarter are quite worried about job loss, keeping their housing and paying for adequate healthcare. Table 6: Concerns about Economic Stability Working Parents 25-49
Working Adults 50+
Very Worried/ Worried
Somewhat Worried
Very Worried/ Worried
Somewhat Worried
Rising prices for gasoline or food
56%
31%
61%
29%
Another recession
46%
38%
52%
36%
Being able to pay the rent or mortgage
28%
30%
19%
28%
Having enough money to get adequate health care
27%
29%
32%
34%
Myself or my spouse/partner losing a job
25%
29%
21%
30%
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Regardless of the hype about the importance of getting into a good college, parents are three times more worried about paying for college than they are about which college their children will get into. In addition, one out of three working parents is at least somewhat worried about their child's safety from violence and substance abuse (see Figure 5). Focus group discussions revealed parents’ real and imagined fears for children’s safety such that the common practice of playing outside or in the neighborhood has almost disappeared. Parents point to media reports of abductions, abuse, shootings, internet stalking, bullying and the like as contributing to perceptions that the environment has become too dangerous to take the risk of letting school age children play outside unsupervised. Rising rates of addiction nationwide, including opiates, is a major driver of the increasing number of grandparents caring for grandchildren. Several study families’ experiences with substance abuse among their adult children reflect these national trends. Figure 5 Parents’ Concerns about Children’s Future
Mature workers’ expectations for their economic futures – both for themselves and their children – are sobering. The data corroborate the common prediction that boomers will be the first generation who will not have done better than their parents’ generation. And few expect their adult children’s standard of living will be better than their own. (see Table 7). The recession has altered working boomers’ expectations about age of retirement, working after retirement, living arrangements and providing support to children and grandchildren. Twothirds under 65, “working boomers”, plan to continue working for pay after retirement age and
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half plan to work part-time in their retirement years just to meet their current financial needs rather than for personal fulfillment which was a more common motivation just a few years ago. Table 7: The Future of the “American Dream” Working Adults 50+ Much Worse/ Worse
About the Same
Much Better/ Better
Standard of Living in Retirement, Compared to Parents 16 Men
30%
32%
30%
Women Partnered or Married
37%
37%
28%
Women Single, Divorced or Widowed
52%
20%
28%
Children’s Standard of Living as Working Adults, Compared to Parents Men
41%
30%
29%
Women Partnered or Married
32%
29%
43%
Women Single, Divorced or Widowed
22%
42%
36%
There are significant gender differences in concerns about economic stability: female working adults 50+ are significantly more concerned about their economic stability than male peers, and women without a partner have the most negative expectations about their current financial situation and future retirement. Female study participants cited a variety of cultural, social, employment and economic factors that have contributed to their precarious financial situations. They were raised to expect to have a husband who would provide for them, would manage the finances, etc. They were not encouraged to save for the future, they were more likely to work in jobs that did not provide defined pensions or retirement plans and they had discontinuous working careers – leaving the workforce to raise children, working part-time over many years at lower wages than full-time workers, etc. Most recently, the housing market collapse has reduced the value of their main financial asset - their homes.
16
Survey items adapted from AARP Public Policy Institute AARP 50+ and Worried about Today and Tomorrow, November 2011.
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How Working Families Manage in the New Normal Taken together, the data suggest that working families are living in the midst of major social and economic transformation. Research shows that times of rapid social change and demographic transitions are often accompanied by a variety of societal breakdowns such as family disruption and substance abuse caused by the lack of new social norms and cultural institutions to replace previously shared values and frameworks. Until the transition is complete, individuals bear the pressure and experience the unpredictability of the change without structure and support in the period before the new cultural practices and institutions have been firmly established. This phenomenon of an incomplete social transformation aptly describes the predicaments facing the American working families that we studied. As they juggle daily demands and time pressures, families feel very much on their own to develop new rituals and solutions to adapt to rapidly changing roles and realities. Given the pace of change, models from past generations do not apply and the instrumental and emotional support once provided by extended family and neighbors has been lost through geographic mobility and other factors. We asked participants about their key strategies to manage in this time of uncertainty and change and how they stay focused on what is most important to them. Here are several creative, innovative strategies families use to navigate the “new normal” successfully. Families create new family traditions and rituals while retaining important family values. Family dinner time and holiday celebrations remain iconic events for working adults. Busy families may not be able to eat a home cooked meal together every night, but great importance is placed on having regular meal times together. Solutions range from incorporating time saving prepared meals, making breakfast the family mealtime, to weekly Sunday brunch after church in order to be together. TV movie nights at home, family games with the Wii or Xbox, family sports or exercise are made part of the regular weekly schedule to ensure that family members come together for activities that promote cooperation and fun. Schools, child care programs, community and religious organizations fill the gap left by the disappearance of neighborhood and extended family. Some families are fortunate to be part of an institution – a school, child care center, senior center or religious organization – that creates a much needed community. These institutions are the new lifeline for working families and offer sources of friendship, hands-on help, as well as practical advice for parents and caregivers facing challenges or emergencies. Sometimes, these supports develop informally as a byproduct of membership while in other cases explicit programs and service offerings exist to meet these needs. Technology free zones. Families are establishing rules or agreements on certain times and situations where they will “unplug” so that the adults and children will concentrate all their
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attention on one task and break the reliance on smart phones, social media and video games. Technology free zones may include no cell phone use during dinner time, limiting total screen time to two hours per day and no video games Monday-Friday compensated by more relaxed rules on the weekend. Mothers set reasonable expectations for themselves. Mothers are resisting competitive pressures and the urge for perfection. By examining their values and gaining confidence in their own parenting decisions, women report feeling less stressed about daily demands and a greater sense of satisfaction. Other experienced mothers and professionals can play the valuable role of wise, supportive, non-judgmental mentors for first-time parents who are bombarded with media and marketing. Fathers are hands-on and take on specific responsibilities rather than just “helping”. Fathers are doing more than “babysitting”. Whether by choice or necessity, and according to work schedules, fathers are managing the morning routine, grocery shopping and dinner preparation as well as the more common role of coaching their children on sports teams. Families scale back. The combined impact of the recession, lower salaries, fear of additional job loss and depressed housing values have motivated working families to change their lifestyles and spending habits. Families are moving in with extended family members, borrowing against their 401Ks, taking on additional part-time jobs, sending their children to less expensive colleges, and looking for new ways to cut household expenses such as free or cheaper family activities, babysitting swaps and hand-me-downs for clothes and sports equipment.
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Recommendations The findings suggest several areas where employers, community organizations and practitioners can support America’s workers to be successful in their working and caregiving roles. •
Increase the availability and use of policies and practices that allow employees the flexibility to manage both their work and personal lives effectively and increase the flexibility in the institutions with which working families interact such as schools and medical and other professionals so that their “customers” can be actively engaged.
•
Encourage schools, child care centers, senior programs and other organizations to be the community hubs and 21st century “neighborhoods” where working adults can form meaningful connections and strong relationships with individuals they trust and access needed information, formal and informal programs and other supports.
•
Facilitate opportunities for cross-generational conversations. Skills and knowledge sharing across generations has multiple benefits including the mentoring of younger parents by more experienced individuals and younger, digital savvy “natives” helping older, digital “immigrants” to cross the digital divide.
•
Provide financial education and planning targeted to the particular needs of older women.
•
Encourage parents to be more intentional about how they spend their time and their children’s time by managing use of technology/screen time, making regular times for family interaction and conversation, and incorporating activities that build focus and concentration.
•
Expect media and professionals to develop realistic images of today’s diverse working families and set reasonable expectations for working parents so that being a “good mother” or “good father” is a goal one can strive for and actually achieve.
Conclusion Despite the challenges families face as traditional institutions fail to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology and demographics, we have found that families demonstrate resourcefulness in finding new ways to promote cohesiveness, meet daily demands and achieve their longer term goals. The workplace and community institutions can be positive forces to help families adapt, by offering flexibility within their own organizations, supporting the development of new community institutions and advocating for public policies that promote success for working families.
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The study sponsors included the American Business Collaboration, Care.com and KPMG through its Corporate Voices for Working Families membership.
About WFD Consulting WFD Consulting (www.wfd.com), based in Boston, is a global management consulting firm with over 25 years of experience developing and implementing work-life, diversity and talent management solutions for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and colleges and universities. WFD’s action-oriented solutions are based on sound research and measurement, draw on its extensive global experience and emphasize innovation.
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