Giving `Family Friendly' Workplaces New Meaning - Ms. Foundation for Women Launches New, Expanded Program: Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work(SM)

    NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- From 1993 until 2002, 71 million
 American adults participated in the Ms. Foundation for Women's Take Our
 Daughters To Work(R) 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 Work(SM) 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(R) 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 Work(SM) 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(R) 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 girls and boys who will be participating in Take Our Daughters And
 Sons To Work(SM) 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."
 
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SOURCE  Ms. Foundation for Women