Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 73

CHAPTER 2 Waldfogel and McLanahan. More than four in 10 private sector workers—and more than 80 percent of low-wage workers—do not have paid sick days.9 Every developed country in the world, except for the United States, provides new mothers—and often, fathers—with paid time off to bond with their baby.10 In the United States, about 40 percent of workers are not even guaranteed job-protected family leave that is unpaid.11 In other high-income countries, the law specifically permits workers to request flexible scheduling, while in the United States, many workers are afraid of giving the impression that they have any sort of work-family conflict. “Motherhood may entail a wage penalty all on its own,” writes Heather Boushey in an article for The Future of Children. “A growing body of research suggests that mothers often experience explicit discrimination because of their roles as caregivers and their need for workplace flexibility.”12 The stark economic conditions facing many families today are aggravated by the inadequate response of policymakers to the predicament of millions of people either unemployed or underemployed by working only part-time when they want and need to work full-time. The country has entered its fourth year of recovery since the end of the Great Recession—yet the unemployment and underemployment rates remain stubbornly high. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the economy is not expected to get close to full employment for years. Chapter 1 discussed how policymakers could spur job growth through macroeconomic adjustments and government investments. Chapter 2 will focus on improving the quality of low-wage jobs, proposing core labor standards for all so that the new economic reality of American life will begin to include a more supportive work environment. Congress has raised the minimum wage only three times in the last 30 years. Richard Lord Formal care for young children is associated with better cognitive and school-readiness outcomes. The highest wage earners are four times more likely than the lowest wage earners to receive paid sick days, nearly twice as likely to have paid vacation days, and five times as likely to have access to paid family leave.3 www.bread.org/institute? ? 2014 Hunger Report? 63 n