THE MAKE IT WORK AGENDA

A visionary policy proposal to help people across America make it work.

When we launched Make It Work, we knew that the majority of Americans want solutions to the economic security challenges they face every day and are ready for big ideas that would fix these problems. 

In May 2015, Make It Work released The Make It Work Agenda, a forward-thinking policy platform to transform women and working families’ economic reality in the United States. The capstone of that agenda was a bold new approach to universal child care. We aimed high for two reasons: first, because people were struggling, and incremental fixes weren’t providing the relief they needed; and second, to prove that America was ready for the bold solutions we actually need.

We believed that going bold would set a valuable stake in the ground. By putting forth a visionary, progressive agenda, we would shift the policy reference point and encourage people to fight for a bigger vision. That agenda became the campaign’s foundation — an inspiring vision for how we might transform economic realities in a big way.

We discovered that going bold worked. Our agenda helped change America’s collective imagination about what’s possible, and many of the solutions we proposed--solutions that were once considered too big or too ambitious--have since become part of the mainstream conversation about what people across America need to make it work.

Work And Family

Today, almost everyone is working inside and outside the home, but our rules about work and family are stuck in the past. When you’re sick, have a baby on the way, or are facing a family emergency, you shouldn’t have to count on an understanding boss or accommodating co-workers to make it work. But without protections in place, that’s exactly what we do – and often, we sacrifice a paycheck, or risk our jobs, to do it.

That’s why Make it Work supported critical legislation that would allow people to be there for their families when they need it most, without sacrificing their economic security. This included support for the Healthy Families Act, which would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year; the FAMILY Act, which provides paid leave to care for new children and those with serious illnesses; the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which ensures women can maintain both their jobs and healthy pregnancies; and the Schedules That Work Act, which ensures flexible and predictable work schedules so that people who work can plan ahead and also request flexible schedules that allow them to take care of responsibilities both at and outside of work.

Equal Pay

Women are integral to our families’ well-being and today’s workplace. The way we show we truly value people in the workplace and their contributions to our society and economy is to pay them what they are worth. But chances are good that women you know are being paid less than male coworkers - whether they know it or not. Knowledge is power. That’s why Make it Work proposed solutions to make information about pay more available so women know when they’re paid less.

This included creating a public database that shows how much employers pay for different types of jobs broken down by sex, race and ethnicity. With this sort of data available by employer rather than industry, everyone can see whether they’re making a fair wage, without revealing people’s individual salaries.

We also advocated for Congress to 1) pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would stop employers from retaliating against employees who share information about their wages, and would hold employers who do discriminate accountable; 2) raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, and 3) adopt one fair wage, rather than a separate wage for tipped workers. 

For more information about the gender pay gap and Make It Work’s proposed solutions:

CarEgiving

Quality, affordable care for children or elders shouldn’t require a second job or a second mortgage. That’s why Make it Work proposed bold solutions centered around these four principles: 1) flexibility and affordability for families, 2) high quality care for our loved ones, 3) valuing the people who provide care, and 3) investment in high quality jobs. 

Our child care proposal became the capstone of the Make It Work Agenda and was quickly adopted by major political candidates, thrusting it into the national spotlight during the 2016 presidential election. For more information on our 2015 child care proposal, please visit:

In 2017, we worked to help Senator Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Scott (D-VA) introduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would make child care affordable through a sliding scale, would provide aid to pay for all types of care options – from child care centers to after-school care to care provided by friends and family, and ensure a living wage for the people providing care for our children. The bill also expands public preschool.

We believed that going bold would set a valuable stake in the ground. By putting forth a visionary, progressive agenda, we would shift the policy reference point and encourage people to fight for a bigger vision. That agenda became the campaign’s foundation — an inspiring vision for how we might transform economic realities in a big way.

We discovered that going bold worked. Our agenda helped change America’s collective imagination about what’s possible, and many of the solutions we proposed--solutions that were once considered too big or too ambitious--have since become part of the mainstream conversation about what people across America need to make it work.