Chairwoman Woolsey, Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers, Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here to testify on behalf of the National Partnership for Women & Families (“National Partnership”). I particularly want to thank Representative Woolsey. As the lead sponsor of the Balancing Act, the FIRST Act, and the Domestic Violence Leave Act, you have truly been a tireless and effective champion for working women and men.
I am Portia Wu, Vice President at the National Partnership, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy
group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care, and
policies that help individuals meet the dual demands of work and family. The National
Partnership led the eight-year fight to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and is a national
leader in advocating for laws that help workers meet work-family demands. We are pleased to
support the Work-Life Balance Award of 2010 and urge the Committee and the House to consider it as soon as possible.
This legislation comes at a critical time. Women now make up half of America’s workforce, and
their incomes are increasingly important to families’ economic survival. At the same time,
women continue to have primary responsibility for family caregiving. Today, four out of ten
mothers are the primary breadwinners in their households and two-thirds of mothers contribute
significantly to their families’ income. Working men are also investing more time in child care.
And many more Americans are assuming eldercare responsibilities — a trend that will intensify
as our country’s population ages.
