The United States labor force participation rate stands at a 36-year low as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported it to be 62.8 percent, down from 63.2 percent in the month of March. The figures could get worse as more Americans give up looking for work, while the number of people still unemployed has remained steady.
It is estimated that within the next four years, the number of Americans not in the labor force could very well exceed the number of people actually working.
According to the White House, the solution to this problem is for workplaces across the country to become more family-friendly. The Oval Office published a report Friday in which it suggested that more companies institute family-friendly policies that could attract more workers, such as paid maternity and paternity leave.
The White House says that the family structure has dramatically modified over the past four decades and offices have not adapted to this unique situation for modern families. For instance, nearly half of mothers are the household income earners, while one-third of household members have opted not to take a job because of family quarrels.
The report was published ahead of President Obama’s “summit on working families” in Washington, where he will promote several family policies, such as hiking the minimum wage and growing admission to childcare services.
“Trying to balance bread-winning and care-giving responsibilities without the support of work-family policies designed to help families navigate these complexities is leaving too many families stressed, exhausted, and burdened by work-family conflict,” the White House report stated. “The lesson is clear: if we want to increase the pace of economic growth we should make it easier for more men and women to participate in the labor force.”
Economists and Republican lawmakers argue that these kinds of policies would hurt any potential job growth, workers, wages and companies. However, Democrats aver that it would aid the overall economy.
In order to understand the current state of families and the problem of childcare, the Center for American Progress released an in-depth report on the matter. It listed how nearly all adult household members work, one-quarter of children under the age of five are looked after by someone other than a parent and families spend nearly 10 percent of their monthly income on childcare.
“While our workforce and families have changed dramatically, our nation’s labor standards have not been updated in decades,” the report said. “There are sensible policies that would assist families while simultaneously helping employers’ bottom lines, but both employers and policymakers have been slow to recognize how fundamentally our lives have changed and what needs to be done to make our workplace policies match the way that we live and work today.”
In fact, according to a November report authored by Child Care Aware of America, the cost of childcare rose last year and is now more than rent or food. Since we’re just in the beginning of summer, it is projected that the average American family will spend $601 per child– affluent families are expected to double that amount and dole out $1,116. This can include summer camp, daily activities, babysitting, day trips and even childcare.
