Employer Family-Supportive Policies: Diverse Variations on the Theme

Since the United States lacks the national family-supportive programs of European societies, a major issue for employed parents and family practitioners is the extent and nature of employer workplace initiatives. Interviews with a sample of New Orleans employers bolstered other research findings of progress but continued limited workplace implementations of formal, family-supportive programs. This study found that modifications of formal policies and informal policies did extend organizational family supports, and a high degree of variability in family-supportive practices seems to be the current social milieu of employed parents.