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The other night I was watching the news, and Barack Obama went directly from a conference with reporters to parent-teacher conferences with his wife. It was a very real reminder that the new first family is more than aware of juggling work and family life. The Obama’s offer a unique look at how to deal with high-profiled careers while still raising young children. In many ways, the Obama’s are real-life representatives of the changing times when it comes to career and kids.
Michelle Obama has said that she wants to help raise awareness of the difficulties in juggling family life with carer. The New York Times says:
“As first lady, Mrs. Obama has said, she plans to make herself an advocate for working parents, particularly military families, urging better access to child care for all. Trying to juggle public duties with two young children, she will be a living illustration of the very issue she describes.”
Do you think the new first family will help working parents, either with legislation or by example? Why or why not?
The issue of balancing work and family are incredibly important. The new first family has already helped working parents by publicizing the issue of work life balance and helping to engage individuals in a dialogue about the many issues ranging from telecommuting, breastfeeding, jury duty, sick leave, military families, etc… One website that is incredibly important in providing up to date academic research and news is the Sloan Work and Family Research Network http://www.bc.edu/wfnetwork. The Network offers policy briefs, legislation information, case studies, articles, etc… relating to work life topics.