Better Families, Better Business?

“We just want the best of both worlds,” says Dr. Malcolm Smith about working families. And he sounds pretty sure they can get it.

Smith is a professor of Family Studies at the University of New Hampshire and a specialist in Family Life and Family Policy for UNH Cooperative Extension. He also serves on the Task Force on Work and Family, a group started by the N.H. Legislature in 2007. Smith is proud to point out that the task force was made permanent last year while other commissions were being discontinued. “This is a really vibrant and vital task force,” he says.

Just finishing up their work for the year, the task force is looking ahead to the 2011 legislative session. They especially hope to establish a program of paid family leave. Where a federal provision currently allows employees unpaid leave for family emergencies or the birth of a child, for example, House Bill 661 would let those family members collect a paycheck, albeit at reduced wages, on their time off.

Along with two other bills related to working families, HB 661 was originally introduced in 2009 and sponsored by Rep. Mary Gile (D-Concord). You can read more details about all three bills in Front Door Politics’ earlier report, “A Family of Workers’ Rights Bills.”

After being held twice for further study, HB 661 will likely see its third legislation session this winter. “We’re trying to find a good compromise everybody can live with,” Smith says, “but I think we’re farther along now.”

The difference this year, predicts Smith, will be in numbers—lots of them, in the form of actuarial tables that demonstrate exactly how much such a program would cost. Smith expects this study to be completed in January. He says that all parties, especially employers, deserve the chance to see this, although there may be some federal start-up money to offset those expenses.

Smith says that New Hampshire’s “advantage” is not just about taxes. “It’s an incredible place to work and raise a family, and if we could keep that and promote it, it would be one of the most attractive places in the country.”

Smith says that while large-scale unemployment has made lower wage jobs more competitive, many technical companies requiring skilled labor are still competing for employees.

“The other thing to consider is the threat of unemployment … that workers face. It has created a very stressful environment for families.” Bringing work stress home and family stress to the workplace is good for neither, Smith says.

Establishing a paid family leave program (only companies with 50 or more employees would be subject) would make businesses better and families healthier, and help keep more graduates here and bring more “viable” young families to the state, he says.

This Daily Update was written by Hilary Niles.

Posted by Hilary Niles on Nov 1 2010. Filed under Commerce, Family, family, jobs & unemployment, Weekly Briefing, Work, work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry