Here are five things you need to know this week to make your life better at work and at home:

The intersectionality of equal pay

Though the gender pay gap is slowly shrinking, a new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that the pay gap between women has actually gotten worse. Over the last decade, black women’s real earnings have declined by five percent, with Hispanic and Native American women suffering similar losses, while white women’s earnings were stagnant and Asian women earned more. Though stronger policies to reduce the gender pay gap — like a groundbreaking new equal pay law in Massachusetts — are important steps, these findings remind us that differences between women matter, too.

And here’s one more reason to reduce the gender pay gap: new research shows that husbands and wives are both happier when wives earn more.

 Paid leave across the aisle

The movement for paid family leave is gaining steam with a surprising new ally: the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, which released a paid family leave proposal modeled on the Earned Income Tax Credit. The plan, an entitlement targeted at low-income families, is an alternative to the Democratic-backed FAMILY Act. As the growing support for paid leave shows, now is the time to talk about unpaid work.

With debate swirling about paid leave, a new report grades state policies supporting new and expecting parents — and only three states get an A grade. A brief from the Center for American Progress parses myths and facts surrounding various paid leave policy proposals. And List Your Leave’s calculator can tell you how much you’re losing if you don’t get paid leave.

Difficulty with flexibility

Flexible schedules are often heralded as the future of work. Unfortunately, however, flexibility may not be the work-life balance solution that many people are looking for: a new study finds that employees with flexible schedules actually work more. And women who take advantage of flexibility for family reasons may be penalized for it.

Another widely praised work-life balance policy is the soon-to-be-raised floor for overtime pay. But the change has gotten pushback from nonprofits operating under tight budgets. So what exactly does the new rule mean for mission-driven organizations?

Supporting diverse families

Policy issues like paid leave and child care affect all kinds of families, but LGBTQ parents may also face unique, and often-overlooked, challenges. Trans men and transmasculine people who chestfeed their babies can struggle to find lactation support, accurate medical information, and an accepting community. And this essay explores what it means to be a family when only one parent in a same-sex couple is biologically related to their children.

Summer reading

Looking for a thought-provoking beach read for the last few weeks of summer? The New America Weekly has you covered with its summer reading series, including two recent pieces by our very own Better Life Lab interns. Susannah Howe explores the sacrifices and joys of caregiving and what Middlemarch tells us about living a good life. Lindsay Oncken grapples with alcoholism in The Shining and what it means to love an addict.

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About New America

New America is dedicated to the renewal of American politics, prosperity, and purpose in the Digital Age. Our hallmarks are big ideas, pragmatic policy solutions, technological innovation, and creative engagement with broad audiences. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report.

About the Better Life Lab

New America’s Breadwinning & Caregiving Program is thrilled to unveil a new name, the Better Life Lab, and an updated agenda to transform policy and culture so that people and families have the opportunity to live their best lives at work and at home. As a “lab,” we are dedicated to disruptive experiments, collaborative work, and innovative thinking.

“Your Life, Better: News From the Better Life Lab” will be our way to keep you in the know, featuring the best of what we’re reading and writing about gender equity, the evolution of work, and social policies that support 21st-century families. We will be a clear signal amid the noise to share what’s fresh and crucial to an inclusive vision of work-life, gender, and income equity issues.

Meet the Better Life Lab Team

Better Life Lab

Real choices. Real parity. All people.