This Changes Everything #8: Will Parents Get a Better Work/Life Balance?

California Groundbreakers

What does the future hold for working parents in California? Will the childcare crisis, homeschooling debacle and issues involving remote work and essential work put us on a new path to better work-life balance? Are the federal and state governments going to make parenting easier to do going forward? And how can we use what we’ve learned during the pandemic to ensure that raising kids while working full-time fills us with happiness instead of with heartburn? We talk with two people who focus on better work-life balance issues professionally at their day job, and also personally at home as parents to young children. GUESTS * Danika Dellor, executive director of the California nonprofit Women’s Achievement Network and Development Alliance (WANDA) in Silicon Valley - https://wandasiliconvalley.org * Liz Morris, deputy director of the Center for WorkLife Law, an advocacy and research organization at the University of California’s Hastings Law - https://worklifelaw.org PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 6:50 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and the reasons for this episode * 6:50 min - Some significant work-life impacts Dellor and Morris have seen on parents during this pandemic * 11:40 min - Their thoughts on the Biden Administration's American Families Act and what California legislators are proposing * 16:10 min - Will paid leave be more widespread and easier to access? * 19:30 min - Burnout, and the apparent disconnect between what "back to the office" should look like * 24 min - What should employers be doing to improve work-life balance? * 27 min - Where are the men in this scenario? * 32 min - Can we innovate an expanded, and improved, childcare system? * 36:15 min - Words of advice for current -- and future -- parents who work RESOURCE GUIDE The Center for WorkLife Law has COVID-19 resources, including a free legal helpline for parents, family caregivers and pregnant and breastfeeding people. English: https://worklifelaw.org/covid19/helpline-resources/ Spanish: https://worklifelaw.org/covid19/recursos-de-covid-19/