Building on our March forum, which analyzed how tax policy affects low-income working families, in April we turn to two supports designed to help parents stay in the workforce: child care subsidies and paid family leave.

Federal and state governments have invested heavily in child care subsidies to aid low-income parents—particularly mothers—as they make the transition from welfare to work. But how successful has this initiative been? How have employers contributed to and benefited from expanded child care?

At the same time, families struggle to get time off when they need it. Nearly 4 of 5 low-wage workers lack paid sick days and less than 5 percent of all private-sector workers have access to paid parental leave at the birth or adoption of a child. This lack of paid time off often jeopardizes earnings and jobs when emergencies and other family needs arise. Would requiring paid sick leave drive small companies out of business and reduce the number of jobs that many low-wage earners depend on? Is employee-financed parental leave the wave of the future?

Please join us to discuss what low-wage workers need to stay in the workforce, and how the labor market can be more family friendly.

Speakers:

• Shelley Waters Boots, senior research associate, Urban Institute
• Robert Goerge, research fellow, Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago
• Councilmember Carol Schwartz, Council of the District of Columbia
• John Wilcox, deputy director, Corporate Voices for Working Families
• Moderator: Nancy Marshall-Genzer, senior reporter, Marketplace Washington Bureau