White House’s ‘Working Families Summit’: Obama Calls for New Workplace Regulations

Obama at Working Families summit: ‘These are basic needs’ (MSNBC)

President Barack Obama delivered a rousing speech in favor of progressive family policies Monday, declaring that paid family leave and affordable childcare “are not frills, these are basic needs.”

Speaking to a rapturous crowd at the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families Monday afternoon, Obama noted that “too often these issues are thought of as women’s issues, which I guess means you can kind of scoot them aside a little bit. “ But, he said, “Anything that makes life harder for women, makes life harder for families, and makes life harder for children.”

Obama added, “This is about you too, men.” He conceded that there is a double standard for men’s participation in parenting, where men get cheered for attending parent-teacher conferences while women’s professional commitment gets questioned for doing the same.

He also pointed out that the United States is the only developed country without mandated paid maternity leave.