Work and Family Policies for a Changing Work Force (1991) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 7-17
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From page 7... ...
The Panel on Employer Policies and Working Families was asked to synthesize and assess the research on employer policies and working families, to evaluate policy alternatives, and to assess the needs for further research. The rapid changes in the labor force participation rate of women, which underlie the recent changes in the work force, have meant increased income for many families, wider employment choices for women, and an expanded supply of labor for employers.
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From page 8... ...
The current search for means to do justice to both families and jobs occurs within a framework of employment-related laws and regulations developed over the last 75 years. They include a wide range of programs designed to ameliorate social ills through the mechanism of employment status: Social Security, Workers' Compensation and Unemployment Insurance, equal employment statutes, occupational safety and health rules, and regulations governing health insurance and pension plans.
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From page 9... ...
Herein lie at least two constraints that increase the difficulty of attaining statistically useful data: productivity research in general has had very little success beyond a few studies of production workers in the manufacturing industry. Nor are any great advances expected in measuring the wide range of service, administrative, and professional and managerial tasks that increasingly constitute the employment situation in the late twentieth
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From page 10... ...
What works to inform management practice does not in this case aggregate to form a solid scientific base. We present the data that exist, but there is very little solid research evidence on productivity and benefit structures.
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From page 11... ...
Voluntary Benefits During periods of labor shortages- whether general, regional, or for particular skills there is considerable incentive for employers to voluntarily provide benefits that will attract and hold workers. For example, day care centers to provide care for workers' children were established during World War II (with a good deal of government support)
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From page 12... ...
It is also true that, when all firms offer comparable benefits, businesses are in a better position to shift the cost burden to consumers without being at a competitive disadvantage to domestic competitors. The difficulty with this course of action apart from serious philosophical differences about the appropriateness of government interventions in labor markets is that adding benefits normally results in higher total wage costs for employers, and the ability to provide them differs greatly among employers.
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From page 13... ...
Flexible spending accounts, for example, enable employees to spend part of their earnings, in pretax dollars, on programs they choose from among a specified assortment. They are offered only by employers to employees; however, government must establish enabling tax policies and bear the burden of reduced revenues.
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From page 14... ...
This can be done by offering direct subsidies, by permitting the employer to make payments in pretax dollars (as is the case for ordinary and necessary business expenses) , and by not taxing employees for the value of the benefits received (which may induce employees to accept decreases in wage compensation)
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From page 15... ...
Economic Security In order to enjoy an adequate standard of living, all families need a minimum income. Workers should also have the opportunity to obtain jobs commensurate with their individual abilities, have access to health care for themselves and their families, and be able to obtain satisfactory dependent care.
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From page 16... ...
Critics suggest that these shortcomings help explain why the United States lags behind other advanced industrialized countries in terms of important health indicators, particularly infant mortality. One proposed solution with a large government role is a system of universal health care not tied to employment.
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From page 17... ...
Although public and expert opinion favors broad reforms, no consensus exists on how to proceed or on the appropriate roles for the public and private sectors. Addressing problems in health care financing and delivery is both critical to the future health of the society and the economy and part of the larger context in which this report must be read.
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