Rep. Bonamici Highlights Oregon’s Ongoing Effort to Support Working Families at White House Summit

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici and several Oregon advocates and lawmakers praised the White House’s Summit on Working Families today and highlighted some of Oregon’s family-friendly policies in the workplace.

Congresswoman Bonamici was joined by: Oregon Representative Jessica Vega Pederson; Lili Hoag, Policy Director at Family Forward Oregon; Connie Ashbrook, Executive Director of Oregon Tradeswoman Inc.; and Sabrina Parsons, the CEO of Eugene-based Palo Alto Software. Much of the conversation focused on how workplace flexibility not only benefits employees, but businesses as well.

“I was thrilled to see several Oregonians at today’s Summit discussing how we can expand our support for working families,” Congresswoman Bonamici said. “Oregon has some family-friendly workplace policies, but many parents are still struggling. Today we discussed additional policies that will allow parents to continue to meet their family obligations without the threat of losing their jobs."

The day-long summit included panels on equal pay, affordable child care, minimum wage, and workplace flexibility. It also featured business owners outlining how flexible workplace policies can benefit employees, employers, and the economy.

“More businesses realize that, to be competitive, they need to have policies that work for all employees. The business representatives at today’s summit discussed how greater schedule flexibility and paid time off can improve employee performance and help retain top talent,” Congresswoman Bonamici said. “As the family paradigm shifts, our policies toward working families must shift, too.”

Sabrina Parsons from Palo Alto Software in Eugene spoke about the benefit of her company’s family-friendly work policies and Connie Ashbrook from Oregon Tradeswoman Inc. spoke about getting more women involved in “Blue Collar” STEM jobs like construction trades. As more women become the primary source of income for their families, they need to have more opportunities for a stable career, for advancement, and for good pay.

“We're glad to see our national and state leaders looking at ways to improve economic security for women and families. Commonsense policies that help women to get out of poverty, and stay out of poverty, will help us to create an economy that works for everyone,” said Lili Hoag, Policy Director at Family Forward Oregon. “When women are better off, the families who depend on them are too.”

President Obama has announced a series of executive actions he plans to take to help working parents, including additional funding for child care, expanded tax credits for working families, and an effort to close the gender pay gap.

“It is increasingly common to see both parents working full-time to support their family,” Congresswoman Bonamici said. “We need to consider policies that make the work-life balance more manageable for fathers and mothers. These policy changes will lead to greater economic security for families and, consequently, to a stronger workforce that will make our country more competitive globally.”