Sunday marks our second pandemic Mother’s Day, and more than a year of financial, health, and familial chaos for mothers across the country.

If we want to make sexual harassment a rarity, changing the law is important, but not sufficient. We also have to change the culture.

In honor of Mother’s Day, let’s all commit – or recommit – to ending the days when time is elusive for so many and workers too often have to choose between job and family. 

Grandparents Day is a time to celebrate grandparents and the many ways they support and unite our families. It’s also a moment to consider whether we as a nation are doing all that we can to honor their contributions. 

It’s no surprise anymore that women are essential engines in our national and family economies. Women are nearly half of the workforce, breadwinners in two-thirds of households, and primary breadwinners in 40 percent of households with children. Women and families across the country know this reality well.

Seventy-five years ago last week, the nation celebrated a major victory for women and families when the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) became law.

Working people today face serious challenges when it comes to managing job and family: Nearly 40 percent of workers in the private sector — and more than 80 percent of those who are low-wage workers — cannot earn a single paid sick day. Forty percent of all workers have no access to even unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act when serious personal or family medical needs arise.

While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has helped more than 100,000 families take the time they need to care for their families, a striking 40% of the U.S. workforce isn’t eligible for the 12 weeks of unpaid leave the FMLA provides because their employers have fewer than 50 employees, or because they haven’t been working for their employers for at least a year and put in a minimum of 1,250 hours.

The Family and Medical Leave Act turns 17 today.