Publications on Wages & Non-wage Compensation

Parents in low-wage jobs lack both the time and resources needed to fill their dual roles of worker and parent. In this essay, the authors outline a "family security" approach that would help parents fulfill their roles effectively. They suggest policies for enabling parents to improve prospects for their children and combine work with child rearing. Among the recommendations are flexible and paid leave policies for working parents, guaranteed child care, and expansion of the Early Head program.

This paper is a response to New Safety Net Paper 7, "Enabling Families to Weather Emergencies and Develop: The Role of Assets," by Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe.

Parents in low-wage jobs lack both the time and resources needed to fill their dual roles of worker and parent. In this summary, the authors outline a “family security” approach that would help parents fulfill their roles effectively. They suggest policies for enabling parents to improve prospects for their children and combine work with child rearing. Among the recommendations are flexible and paid leave policies for working parents, guaranteed child care, and expansion of the Early Head program.

This paper is a response to New Safety Net Paper 4, "Helping Poor Working Parents Get Ahead: Federal Funds for New State Strategies and Systems" by Harry J. Holzer and Karin Martinson.