If you have children and work, you have probably heard about Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day, which takes place on April 24. Originally conceived as Take Our Daughters To Work Day, the idea has broadened to include sons. Sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women, this project encourages employers to allow employees to bring children to work on a designated day to witness what parents do and to encourage them to explore career opportunities.

And now, the Ms. Foundation project is evolving as well. Organizers launched a Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day on April 24. They said this was not an extension of the traditional day, but a new day in its own right. Rather than just allowing boys to tag along, activities were developed to allow both genders to explore work and home issues and think creatively about solutions.

"For girls to take full advantage of the opportunities the program helped to create, boys' lives must change as well," Foundation President Marie C. Wilson declares on the group's web site. The foundation also notes a study by the Families And Work Institute that found not only did 81 percent of girls say they will reduce work hours to have children, but almost 60 percent of the boys did as well.

The foundation also says men who brought daughters to work complained that they themselves were often discouraged from taking time for family needs. "Men's stories echo what working women have been saying for decades --- taking an active caregiving role in your family life can limit your job possibilities and chances for advancement."

It's refreshing to see a program motivating both boys and girls, men and women, to brainstorm ways to balance work and family and to share both roles between the genders.

Family And Work Institute https://www.familiesandwork.org/index.html

Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Organization
https://www.daughtersandsonstowork.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=485