Paid family leave and other family-supportive policies help dignify work and protect family time. Employers and policy-makers should consider the following principles when crafting workplace and public policies.
Motivating Principles
- Healthy Families: Families are the foundation of healthy communities and societies.
- Dignity of Work: All work has inherent dignity.
Applied Principles
- Dignity of all workers: God intends each person to reflect the Imago Dei through work. Time for family care should not be a privilege for a few but a pervasive practice that reflects the dignity of all workers.
- Honoring caregiving: Family caregiving – whether for a new child or an ailing or aging family member – is worthy work that should be recognized and supported.
- Political support: Assistance to workers should effectively empower all families to care for each other well.
- Address system challenges: Policies should address the unique barriers for households with low-income who do not have the advantage of family wealth.
- Support economic vitality: Policies should support healthy businesses, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations.
- Financial stewardship: Policies should steward well both resources provided and costs allocated for family-supportive policies and practices.