How do Obama and McCain stack-up on Work/Life issues? Their Web sites each state their positions on the issues (visit Obama and McCain), but many of the key issues haven’t made it to the debates. Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute (FWI), asked the tough questions in two conference calls convened in September with policy leaders from the two Presidential campaigns.
The calls focused on how, if elected, the two candidates would address work life issues ranging from workplace flexibility to FMLA, to equal pay to sick leave to health care, to early education and child care. Senator Obama’s campaign was represented on a September 16 call by Karen Kornbluh, Policy Director to U.S. Senator Obama. Senator McCain’s campaign was represented on September 24 by McCain policy advisors Wendy Grubbs, Jay Khosla, and John Bash. Visit at familiesandwork.org for the complete report.
“We consider it very significant that both campaigns have taken work life issues seriously,” said Ellen Galinsky. “This is the first ever Presidential campaign in which both nominees have formally articulated their positions in this arena. Despite the fact that thousands of working families asked that these questions be posed in the national debates, these requests have been ignored. These Institute calls provide working families a welcome opportunity to hear how the candidates would address their issues. While much has been written about how the candidates manage their own work and family lives, these calls move us from their personal to their policy stands on these issues.”
As November 4 approaches, how do you think the candidates view these critical issues for working parents?
Photo courtesy of YourOnRamp
