Ms. Foundation for Women launches new, expanded program: Take Our Daughters And Sons To WorkSM From 1993 until 2002, 71 million American adults participated in the Ms. Foundation for Women’s Take Our Daughters To Work® Day and demonstrated their commitment to "girl power." After a decade of success, the Ms. Foundation is evolving the program and launching Take Our Daughters And Sons To WorkSM on Thursday, April 24. The new program aims to broaden the conversation about work-family issues and encourage "family friendly" workplaces for working mothers and fathers. By adding children’s voices to the dialogue, we hope to create a future in which girls and boys can participate fully in family, work, and community.
"Girls asked questions on Take Our Daughters To Work® Day that changed workplaces and encouraged more opportunities for women in the workplace," said Marie C. Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women. "Through Take Our Daughters And Sons To WorkSM we hope to address girls’ most popular question: Can you have a family and work here too?"
According to a national study conducted by the Families and Work Institute, girls and boys envision a future in which they are actively involved in all aspects of their lives. In fact, 81 percent of girls and almost 60 percent of boys said they will reduce their work hours when they have children.
Through Take Our Daughters To Work® Day, the Ms. Foundation learned how difficult it will be for children to realize these expectations. Men participating in the program thanked the Foundation for creating a day when they could be "public fathers" in the workplace. Men’s stories echoed those the Ms. Foundation had heard from working women for decades—working adults want to be more involved in their families’ lives, but fear caregiving responsibilities limit their job possibilities and chances for advancement at work.
"Girls and boys see how difficult it is for adults to meet the challenges of work and family, and want their lives to be different," continued Wilson. "This program will help make their vision of the future reality."
Through innovative workplace activities designed in partnership with the Families and Work Institute, girls and boys will have the chance to share their ideas about workplaces of the future with the companies that will someday employ them.
"The boys and girls who will be participating in Take Our Daughters And Sons To WorkSM represent the workforce of the future," said Ellen Galinsky, President of Families and Work Institute. "The activities are designed to stimulate discussion about the worlds of work and family as they are, and as they could be. Youth have the opportunity to help reshape the workplace, just as generations before them have done."
The new program will also continue to educate girls and boys about the wealth of job possibilities for their future, teach them about the realities of work, and give them a glimpse of what the adults in their lives do during the day.
More information about the program is available online at www.DaughtersandSonstoWork.org, including the new workplace activities.