The United States remains one of the few countries on earth—along with Papua New Guinea, Suriname, and Tonga—with no national paid family leave policy, despite the fact that a majority of women and mothers work outside the home, that a majority of children are being raised in families where all parents work, and that an aging population is increasing […]
How much paid leave is enough? What the science shows
Ask American mothers and fathers how much time they can take off work to care for and bond with a new infant, and the answers are all over the map. Lauren, who works for a big financial services firm, is on the 19th week of what will be six months of leave paid by her employer […]
The Case Against Maternity Leave
On the 2016 campaign trail, candidate Donald J. Trump became the first major Republican party candidate to promise six weeks of paid maternity leave for mothers whose employers do not already provide it. In the ensuing chaos of the Trump administration, we haven’t heard much about this proposal, which is obviously a shame: With a scant […]
Why your best productivity hacks still come up short (and what really needs to change)
I confess: I’m a sucker for life hacks. Who doesn’t fantasize about getting work done faster and getting more out of life, especially when, after rushing around all day, you’ve barely made a dent in your to-do list, emails keep pouring in, and that one big project you’ve been meaning to work on gets kicked […]
The Expert’s Dilemma: Why even work-life balance experts are awful at balancing work and life
For years, as director of the Work-Life Center at MIT, Kathy Simons pushed for flexible work policies, family-friendly benefits, and could cite chapter and verse the research on how taking time off to recharge improves workers’ outlook, productivity, and health. (In case you’re curious: One long-term study found that men and women who don’t take […]
The Better Work Toolkit
Flexibility, collaboration, and autonomy are workplace strategies intended to give workers more predictability and control over their work and home lives. Instead, they’re often extending the workday into an unpredictable, 24/7 everydayathon, crowding out time for meaningful, concentrated work with endless meetings and overflowing inboxes, and spurring ever greater work devotion in order to live […]
In Berlin, the past and present collide on a mother-son trip
Rediscovering Berlin: Two teens, two visits, 35 years apart.
Why you can’t stop checking your email
(CNN)We’re drowning in email. We check it incessantly — more than half of American workers check email at least once an hour. And at night. And on weekends. And on vacation. The compulsion to constantly check, respond, clean out and keep on top of an overflowing inbox is actually making us stressed out, distracted, miserable […]
New America Care Report finds child care doesn’t work for anyone
In the past 50 years, the experience of the American family has undergone a sea change. In the mid-twentieth century, breadwinner-homemaker families were not only more the norm, but held up as the ideal. Today, there is no one “typical” American family. And in a majority of families with children under 18, all parents work […]
Beyond Inbox Zero: The science of work-life balance
Tara Oakman knows what it’s like to work in a high stress, adrenaline-fueled, always-on 21st century workplace. A few years back, she was up against tough deadlines, intense public scrutiny, and the pressure of creating a massive new federal program from scratch as director of a team overseeing implementation of some key elements of the […]