Debra Ness of the National Partnership for Women and Families… called them “a tremendous victory for home care workers, fair pay, quality care and the well-being of our nation. The home care workforce has been grossly undervalued for much too long…Nearly half of home care workers rely on public assistance to make ends meet because of poverty-level wages and few benefits. These regulations will help change this grave injustice and improve working conditions.”

“The ability to decide when and how we have children is critical to our economic well-being,” said Judy Lichtman of the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Right now, such benefits are still purely dependent on where you work. I can tell you about 100 employers that are committed to supporting new working parents, but for too many employees, the juggle is still a struggle. That’s why we joined with the National Partnership for Women and Families to demand a federal mandate for paid family leave.

“It’s past time we update our standards to reflect the realities of the way we work and live in the 21st century,” said Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs for the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Women are paid less than men—on average, 77 cents on the male dollar, according, most recently, to a 2013 report from the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Board members, who often hire chief executives, need to do a better job of making sure women are not shortchanged, says Judith Lichtman, senior adviser to the Partnership for Women and Families.

Katherine also told me about legislation that’s been drafted by the National Partnership for Women and Families that would give workers up to 12 weeks of paid leave at very little cost to workers or employers.

“The National Partnership for Women & Families put out a new Q&A guide to the FMLA in honor of the 20th anniversary. The guide is a great resource for employees, employers and anyone looking to learn more about taking FMLA leave and how to navigate the law.”

“Our public policies are completely out of touch with how families are living and working today, and what new families and caregivers need,” Shabo told LiveScience.

“We’re very excited. Tom Perez has a background that gives us faith” that DOL will continue to protect workers, Sarah Crawford, director of workplace fairness at the National Partnership for Women and Families, said.

“They were incredibly careful to call it Temporary Caregiver Insurance,” says Vicki Shabo, at the National Partnership for Women and Families, a Washington-based advocacy group. “That conveyed it’s something you pay into and something you get back.” Other states around the country can learn from Rhode Island’s victory, says Shabo. “The messaging is totally transferable.”