Facebook's Sandberg urges family-friendly
policies on Mother's Day
Send a link to a friend
[May 15, 2017]
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief
Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg posted a Mother's Day appeal on Sunday
for federal and corporate policies to benefit working parents, including
a minimum wage increase, mandated paid parental leave and affordable
childcare.
Sandberg, an influential voice in corporate America and author of the
successful 2013 book "Lean In," said the U.S. government and employers
must do more to help parents, especially single mothers, who are
struggling to provide for their children while assuring their safety and
well-being.
"It's time for our public policies to catch up with what our families
deserve and our values demand," Sandberg, a 47-year-old widowed mother
of two, wrote on her personal Facebook page. "We all have a
responsibility to help mothers as well as fathers balance their
responsibilities at work and home."
One of the most important actions the government could take is to help
millions of families living near the poverty line by raising the federal
minimum wage, Sandberg said.
More than 40 percent of American mothers are the primary breadwinners
for their families, she said, and many of them are the only breadwinner.

Sandberg's message was accompanied by a picture of her with her mother
and mother-in-law on the day of her wedding to former SurveyMonkey Chief
Executive Officer Dave Goldberg, who died in 2015 from cardiac
arrhythmia.
In "Lean In," she encouraged women to be more ambitious in the
workplace. Following Goldberg's death, she co-wrote the book "Option B:
Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy" that was
published this year.
Sandberg called for more protections for mothers, fathers, gay and
transgender parents as well as for adoptive parents who seek a leave of
absence from their job to care for a child or other family member.
"We shouldn't have to risk losing a job or being able to meet the basic
needs of our families to do that," Sandberg said.
[to top of second column] |

Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, delivers a
speech during a visit in Paris, France, on January 17, 2017.
REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

Sandberg, one of the wealthiest American women with a net worth of
$1.38 billion, said the United States is one of the only developed
countries not to guarantee paid family or maternity leave.
Sandberg also said American parents need affordable childcare. In
the United States, the cost of daycare for two children is more than
the median annual rent in all 50 states, she said.
"How are parents supposed to work if they don't have a safe and
affordable place to leave their kids?" she asked.
While President Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump has
publicly stated her support for paid maternity leave, her father has
not articulated a clear position on such benefits, as well as the
other issues Sandberg raised in her post.
In a Mother's Day Facebook post last year, Sandberg called for
greater public and corporate support for single, working mothers.
(This version of the story corrects to show the cause of Dave
Sandberg's death was cardiac arrhythmia, in paragraph 6)
(Editing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Will Dunham)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |