Remarks -- Flex-Options Conference
Phoenix , AZ
February 20, 2007  

• Thank you Fran, for that nice introduction. And welcome, all of you, to the “Creating Flexible Workplaces” Conference!

• I would like to give special thanks today to Fran Jefferson and Mike Williams for chairing the Flex-Options team, and to Karen Furia and Collis Phillips for all their work on this Conference. We also could not have done this conference without Karen Kerrigan and Linda Roundtree. Thanks for your guidance and advice. You helped us get some outstanding speakers.

• The Women’s Bureau has been in the business of helping women build their dreams since its inception in 1920.

• After I was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 9, 2001, I had the great honor to walk into an institution, the Women’s Bureau, which had 81 years of history. The first questions I asked were, “Are we relevant to the 21 st Century economy?” and “How do we measure our success?”

• The Women’s Bureau promotes 21 st Century solutions to improve the status of working women and their families, so they can achieve Better Jobs! Better Earnings! and Better Living!

• I am very proud to say that we transformed the way we serve our customers. The Women's Bureau is now a place for:

• Best ideas and innovative programs
• Technology driven online learning programs, with 600 dedicated mentors and 300 value-added partners
• Results -driven/Outcome oriented
• Replications and capacity building.

• When an organization is going through transformation like we are at the Women’s Bureau, it is definitely collective energy, teamwork, commitment, and ownership that leads to success. I would like to thank all the Women’s Bureau staff here today for your tireless work on Bureau programs such as Flex-Options.

• When I got my Master’s Degree from Northwestern University, I went through the graduation ceremony holding my 16-month old son and expecting my second child.

• I didn’t always work, or even plan to have a job. I was a stay-at-home mom when my boys were young. Once my youngest son was in kindergarten, I went out looking for a job. This was in 1976.

• I quickly learned how working mothers with children at home have to juggle. Instead of taking higher-paying jobs, I accepted my 1 st job because it had good benefits – 1 month’s vacation plus 10 sick days that I could even use when the kids were sick. I could take my 1-month’s vacation in one-half day increments, which I did when my kids were out of school for the summer.

• This job also started at 9:00 am – I let go of other great jobs which started at 8:00 am. I wanted to see my children off to school.

• Today , 63% of women with children under 6 are in the labor force. 77% of women with children 6 to 17 years of age are in the labor force.

• Both husband and wife worked in 57% of all married-couple families in 2004. Both spouses worked in 68% of married-couple families with children under 18.

• Over 27 million full-time wage and salary workers had flexible work schedules in May 2004. These workers were 27.5% of all full-time workers, down from 28.6% in May 2001.

• So, while there have been some successes in establishing flexible work arrangements, much remains to be done.

• The Bureau worked with Kellyanne Conway, President and CEO of WomanTrend, to conduct focus groups to understand what Generations X and Y women (ages 25 to 39) want and need now and in 2020. The key finding was that more workplace flexibility is at the top of the wish list of these younger women.
  
  
• So, welcome to the “Celebrating Flexible Workplaces” conference! You have an exciting afternoon ahead of you. I hope the networking you do today will lead to expanded partnerships. That way we, working together and supporting each other, can build upon our successes and better the lives of even more American women and men and their families..