National Work and Family Month

Floor Speech

* Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of October as National Work and Family Month. Each and every day American families make choices about how to best care for their family and to fulfill work obligations.

* Over the last 50 years, the demographics of the U.S. workforce have changed significantly and with that, so have our needs. With more women in the workforce, fewer households have at least one parent at home. According to Census data, 70 percent of children are raised in families headed by either a working single parent or two working parents. In addition, more households are caring for older relatives as medical advances continue to extend life expectancy. It's important that as my colleagues and I work to create and grow jobs, we also ensure that these jobs afford all Americans the chance to take care of their families and maintain a paycheck.

* In an effort to acknowledge the realities of our modern workforce I have reintroduced the Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act (H.R. 1440) to expand the number of workplaces required to comply with the original 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, FMLA, and the Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act to add same-sex spouses, grandparents, and grandchildren (H.R. 2364) as leave beneficiaries under FMLA. In addition, I will soon reintroduce the Working Families Flexibility Act, legislation that gives employees the right to request flexible work arrangements.

* Strong work and family policies help attract, motivate, and retain a talented workforce and businesses should be encouraged to think strategically about the flexibility and family-friendly benefits they offer to their workers.

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