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

Campaigning on care

Following a convention speech where Ivanka Trump argued for equal pay and affordable child care, Donald Trump has proposed a new policy to help families pay for care: make the average cost of care fully tax deductible. (Hillary Clinton’s plan uses subsidies and tax credits to cap child care costs at 10% of income.) Though Trump is right that families need help, his plan wouldn’t actually do much for the low- and middle-income families who struggle most to pay for care — instead, its primary beneficiaries would be women like Ivanka. Indeed, caregiving affects all kinds of people, from grandparents to prison inmates, and policy should reflect that diversity. 

Caregiving is more prominent than ever as a policy issue, but it’s affecting the presidential race in other ways, too. Chelsea Clinton has said her mom was “always, always there” — so why does Hillary Clinton need to be a perfect mom? While the first lady’s responsibilities as mom-in-chief are well-established, the role of a potential “first gentleman” remains an open question. Here’s why redefining what it means to be a first spouse could be a good thing.

 Unpaid and unpartisan

With child care costs sky-high, it's easy to forget about all the care work that is unpaid — and the multitude of other types of unpaid work. Whether it’s caregiving, unpaid internships, volunteering, or something else, unpaid work affects everyone, but has yet to be defined by any political party. In the latest New America Weekly, Erica Carvell, Susannah Howe, and Lindsay Oncken argue that now is the time for us to talk about, and unite around, unpaid work. For more, check out our recent Twitter conversation on #MyUnpaidWork. 

Innovations in work-life balance 

Affordable child care for all is a crucial goal, but there’s plenty that workplaces can do in the meantime to help employees with children. Some companies offer coaching for new parents to help them make the most of parental leave. Being proactive about paid leave can help startups recruit and retain talent. Breastfeeding mothers need support from employers. Let’s all follow Joe Biden’s lead: in a memo to his staff, the VP insists that work shouldn’t take priority over family.

Mansplaining, quantified

In case you had any doubt that mansplaining was real, a new study finds that male academics cite themselves almost twice as often as female academics do. Though the study can’t explain why this happens, women’s lack of confidence and men’s overall higher research output are likely culprits. Unfortunately, the discrepancy can hurt female academics, since high citation counts lead to greater prestige.

Girl power

We’re loving all the badass female athletes at this year’s Olympics! Though the Rio games haven’t been without their share of egregious sexism — not to mention the complex, contradictory gender politics of women’s gymnastics — we’ve also seen incredible strength and unapologetic celebration. 

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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.