LOW-INCOME WOMEN NEED WORK-FAMILY BALANCE

For all the attention given to highly educated women “opting out” of the workforce, it’s low-income women who are the most frequently pushed out of work due to caregiving challenges. High-income workers are more than five times as likely to have access to paid family leave than low-income workers and are almost six times as likely to have access to paid sick days. Families with incomes below the federal poverty line spend about four times as great a percentage of their income on childcare as do other families. Low-income women are the most likely to have jobs with unpredictable schedules, where “flexibility” is meted out according to the whims of employers. They’re the least likely to have access to paid family leave, paid sick days, and high-quality affordable childcare. As a result, they’re the most likely to lose their jobs when they have family caregiving needs. And their families disproportionately suffer from the income shocks – and long-term impediments to wealth accumulation – that come from employment interruptions.

Source: Center for Law & Social Policy, 11/4/15, Work-Family Balance