David Gray

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and many of us will be out this week buying gifts for our moms. That is the right thing for us to do. As a nation, one way for our country to say "thank you" to our moms is by giving them more flexibility to balance their work and family commitments through creative public policies that increase workplace flexibility.

The changing roles of mothers have been one of the most pronounced social trends seen in the… more

The Virginia Tech massacre raises questions that may never be answered. Even in the insolubility of this week's events, however, one thing is clear: Cho Seung-Hui was a very sick young man.

No one deserves an explanation to the questions this tragedy raises more than the victims and their families. One question we all should be asking: Is America serious about the mental health of its young people?

America's young people face a mental health… more

The annual release of the Child Well-Being Index (CWI) provides a research-based look at the status of children in the United States over 30 years. The CWI is commissioned by the Foundation for Child Development and provides policymakers and the public with a tool to monitor the well-being of children nationwide.

The data cut through the headlines and conventional wisdom to offer a multi-faceted portrait of the quality of life of our children. The index addresses questions such as… more

The National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of inspiring speeches and solemn moments of silence, recently drew President Bush and hundreds of lawmakers when it was held in Washington. This year, the event was unusual in that it was attended by much of what is the most religiously diverse Congress in American history.

The 110th Congress includes one Muslim and two Buddhists. The U.S. Senate is now led by a Mormon. All of these are firsts. The new Congress also includes… more

Employers interested in retaining their best workers must consider more flexible work strategies to help employees address work/life balance, says a report by the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.

The report, Promoting Children's Well Being: The Need for Workplace Flexibility, was presented at a congressional briefing in September, and was prepared in collaboration with Georgetown University Law School's "Workplace Flexibility 2010" program...

Behind the push for change in public policy and employer standards are surveys indicating that "92% of… more

The safety net on which Americans once relied is fast unraveling. With retirement plans in growing jeopardy and health coverage eroding, more and more economic risk is being shifted away from government and business and onto the fragile shoulders of the American family. And no matter how well educated and hard working, many Americans fear that bankruptcy could be just one unexpected lay off or health crisis away.

In The Great Risk Shift: The Assault on American Jobs, Families, Health… more

Workplace Flexibility 2010 of Georgetown University Law Center and the Workforce and Family Program of the New America Foundation are bringing together a panel of experts in the fields of parenting, child development, and workplace innovations who will discuss the implications of work-family tensions on children, with a particular focus on the role of fathers.

The briefing will also highlight how workplace flexibility is a necessary part of the response to these issues.

For more… more

At the 10th anniversary of welfare reform, Congress is now engaged in a debate about how best to help the working poor. At the federal level, there is much discussion about whether an increase in the minimum wage would be the best approach. Meanwhile, at the state level, ten states have increased their minimum wage this year and six more have wage initiatives on their ballots this November. Many states and municipalities have gone ahead and instituted… more

Over the past several decades, breakthroughs in medicine and biotechnology have begun to alter the basic process of birth. Increasingly, parents are able to protect their unborn children from potential life-threatening diseases, or give birth to children that are chosen for specific genetic qualities. Infertility treatments are pushing back the age at which women can give birth, and novel surrogacy arrangements have given couples the opportunity to have others bear their children.

This discussion will consider how governments craft… more

Because of the demographic changes of the past generation, dads need more flexibility in their work. Businesses are recognizing that more fathers need flexibility in the workplace and many are giving it.

Businesses should be applauded for that and encouraged to do more in providing workplace flexibility -- and dads deserve credit for the work, balancing and the sacrifices that they make.

For the complete Issue Brief, please see the attached PDF below.