Greetings friends: 
Welcome to the Better Life Lab Newsletter!

New America's Breadwinning & Caregiving Program is now the Better Life Lab 

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

Critical Conversations

April has not been the cruelest month for the Better Life Lab; instead, it's been a great month of hosting critical conversations about valuing care, the future of work, paid leave, and gender parity. Pictured above, General Stanley McChrystal spoke with Anne-Marie Slaughter and Liza Mundy at a private roundtable discussion about the future of work on April 6. The next day, McKinsey Global Institute unveiled its new report, The US Power of Parity, at New America. They presented key findings, including this big one: increasing gender parity can power explosive economic growth in America, to the tune of anywhere from 2 to 4 trillion dollars. And last but not least, the World Bank Group's Women, Business, and the Law and Better Life Lab teamed up for a conversation about paid leave and flex time from local, national, and global perspectives.

What's Imperative and Why It Matters When It Comes to Parental Leave 

Sometimes the message is simple. As Amber Scorah, who joined BLL in March for a Broadly Speaking event in collaboration with the Government of Norway, wrote in a USA Today op-ed with Ali Dodd, "If we had parental leave, our sons might still be alive today." 

And the paid leave issue is changing--resonating more strongly than ever, as recent coverage in the New York Times and many other places makes clear. Even as we build on the momentum spurred by recent measures passed in New York and San Francisco, it's important to remember, as this piece in Harvard Business Review indicates, that passing and complying with family-friendly policies is not enough. Smart companies do more than the minimum, say Julia Beck and Scott Behson.

Crushing the Myth of the Brogrammer

The Humans of Cybersecurity series, published on Context - New America's Medium channel - has been featuring first-person stories that animate the human side of cyber while revealing the need for greater diversity in the field. Check out our newest post on three concrete steps to take to crush the brogrammer myth! And while you're at it, don't miss Anne-Marie Slaughter and Elizabeth Weingarten's article in Time on gender as the national security issue more people should be talking about.

From the World of Sports 

At BLL we focus on how to transform policy and culture, so we noticed two recent bright spots of culture shift from the world of sports. Pittsburgh Pirates Clint Hurdle spoke of his firm belief that a woman will play in the Major Leagues someday soon. And we loved this profile of Schuyler Bailar, the first trans athlete to compete in a Division I men's sport (swimming at Harvard).

Upcoming Better Life Lab Events: Join Us!

NEXT WEEK - It's Raining Men: Presidential Campaigns and Their Sexual Politics. Come to New America for the next installment of our Women's Decision series, a partnership among the Better Life Lab, New America's Political Reform Program, and media partner Quartz. We'll be talking masculinity and presidential politics April 28 at 10:30 AM with Jay Newton-Small, Betsy Woodruff, Joanne Bamberger, Liza Mundy, and Perry Bacon. Get more information and RSVP at the link above.

That's a wrap for this week! We'll look forward to seeing your inbox again next week, but in the meantime, you can always find us on Twitter @BetterLifeLab. Have a great week! 

Follow us on Twitter @BetterLifeLab - and suggest your best reads on living a better life by tweeting at us!

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

Brigid Schulte, Program Director, Director of The Good Life Initiative, award-winning journalist, formerly of The Washington Post, and author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play when No One has the Time
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Elizabeth Weingarten, Deputy Director, Director of GGPI
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Liza Mundy, Senior Fellow and author of The Richer Sex
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Jane Carr, American Council of Learned Societies Fellow & Program Fellow
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Katherine Zoepf, Fellow and author of Excellent Daughters
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Jay Newton-Small, National Fellow and author of Broad Influence
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Alieza Durana, Policy Analyst 
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Better Life Lab

Real choices. Real parity. All people.