Specification and speculation concerning the politics of workplace family policies

The article begins with a discussion of the family changes related to shifts in the composition of the labor force that have led to a concern about family benefits in the workplace. It then covers the reasons for their general absence in the U.S. An analysis follows of the unrecognized consequences of the attention given to the comparatively few instances of family benefits in corporate America. The final section of the article concerns the varying judgments of the authors of the articles in this special issue on the efficacy of existing workplace family policies for businesses and their employees and their families.