American working families are caught in a bind that no job training program alone can solve.
A parent cannot show up productively at work while wondering if their child is safe and cared for – not to mention those for whom affording childcare is simply out of reach. A worker cannot invest in retraining when losing a paycheck means losing the mortgage. A caregiver cannot build a secure retirement while stretched thin between aging parents, young children and full-time employment. And yet, these are the daily choices millions of Americans face.
We spend enormous energy debating workforce skills and job pipelines, and those conversations matter. But we are missing something fundamental: the policies that surround work have not evolved with how families actually live today.
I've been fortunate to build a career I'm proud of. But I also know something that statistics cannot capture: the constant negotiation of being a working mother.
Early mornings answering emails before my kids woke up. Late nights catching up after they went to bed. Strategic business travel that didn't require me to miss birthdays or school functions. A workplace culture that allowed me to bring my whole self to work, not just the professional version. These were not luxuries. They were the scaffolding that made everything else possible.
What I learned from that experience shaped how I've thought about the American workplace ever since: workers do not need to choose between meaningful careers and meaningful lives. They need policies and cultures that recognize they are whole people with multiple responsibilities and identities.
Yet millions of working families today have far fewer options than I did.
The Bipartisan Policy Center's Commission on the American Workforce has developed a comprehensive blueprint that finally addresses this reality. Unlike previous workforce strategies that focused narrowly on credentials and job matching, the commission recognizes that workers are not abstractions. They are parents, caregivers, spouses and individuals juggling multiple responsibilities. What we are proposing are concrete policies designed for life as it is actually lived.
Consider paid family and medical leave. Today, the United States is virtually alone among developed nations in not guaranteeing workers time to care for a newborn, a seriously ill family member, or their own health crisis without losing income. The result? Parents – predominantly mothers – drop out of the workforce. Workers delay or skip medical treatment. Caregiving becomes a financial trap. The commission recommends establishing a paid leave standard so that no worker has to choose between their paycheck and their family.
Or look at child care. The economics are upside down. Many families spend more on child care than on rent. Employers struggle to retain workers because families cannot afford reliable care. The commission calls for expanded, affordable child care access, a public-private partnership where government invests in infrastructure and employers contribute, recognizing that child care is foundational to workforce stability. When child care is affordable and accessible, parents can stay in the labor force, gain skills and build careers.
Then there is retirement security. Forty percent of Americans age 65 rely primarily on Social Security, a system designed generations ago. Workers hop between jobs without continuous retirement savings. Self-employed workers have no employer match. The commission proposes expanding access to portable retirement plans and strengthening Social Security itself so that workers who move between jobs don't lose accumulation. This is essential: financial security in retirement is not separate from workforce participation. Workers who know they will not face destitution in old age make different choices about training, risk-taking and staying engaged.
The commission also recommends skills savings accounts, allowing workers to build up funds specifically for training and education, like 529 plans for workforce development. This matters because it treats working families as agents in their own advancement, not passive recipients of government programs. A parent can save for a credential they need while managing immediate family obligations.
What ties all of this together is public-private partnership. Government cannot solve this alone. Employers cannot solve it alone. But when government creates frameworks like paid leave standards, child care investment, portable benefits structures, and employers build on them, something shifts. Workers have genuine agency. They can afford to invest in themselves. They can care for their families without sacrificing economic security.
The commission's blueprint is neither left nor right. It is rooted in a simple truth: workers thrive when their policies match their lives. That requires alignment across education, benefits, caregiving support and financial security.
We have spent decades building silos around workforce development, child care, family leave and retirement policy – treating them as separate challenges. The commission proposes something different: integrated support for working families as they navigate multiple roles and responsibilities. Every working family deserves that same foundation.
This is what it takes to build a workforce for the future. Not just better job training, though that matters. But policies that treat working families as whole people, not just workers. When we do that, everything else becomes possible.
Susan K. Neely is the former CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers and serves on the Bipartisan Policy Center's Commission on the American Workforce. Throughout her career, she has championed policies that strengthen financial security and opportunity for working families.
