We asked everyone from futurists and policy makers to readers and some household names for flashes of inspiration, insight and plain old wishful thinking about the future of family-friendly perks.

Here, ideas on how to put a new spin on old rules.

Working-family wish list
Over the past 30 years, we have seen significant advancements for working families, but I hope it won’t take another 30 years for us to conquer the ongoing challenges. I hope that we will soon see Congress expand afterschool programs, support kinship families [where grandparents or other relatives provide child care] and tie the minimum wage to congressional salaries. I’m also working to close the pay gap, to give families greater flexibility in providing quality child care and to extend the Family and Medical Leave Act. I hope that we’ll soon see voluntary universal pre-K and more affordable health care, housing and education for working families across America.
—Senator Hillary Clinton

Girl power
It’s 2038 and a working mother has been elected president of the United States. For 20 years now, working mothers have been enjoying the same salary and respect as any man. Working mothers have one day off a month in which the company pays for a day at the spa (mani/pedi, massage, the works). Pregnancy isn’t considered a “disability,” and working moms who receive government supplements to their income are never treated as second-class citizens. —Nika Cavat, mom of Aurora, 13, and Working Mother reader


Generational makeover
Demographic changes provide us with a window into the future. The aging of the population and the twenty-first-century multigenerational workforce will make companies reassess whether current policies and programs fit the needs of older workers who want greater access to workplace flexibility, including extended time off or sabbaticals, phased retirement, part-year work and telecommuting.

Today’s multigenerational workforce offers opportunities for innovations in bidirectional mentoring, including creative job-shares.
—Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, PhD, director, Sloan Center on Aging & Work


Catch a wave
Baby boomers and Gen Y are redefining how jobs get done. What’s breakthrough is that these two groups actually enjoy working together because they want to work in similar ways. They want seasonal flex. Whether it’s to catch a wave in Hawaii or to babysit grandkids in August, they want to change their schedules during the year. And it’s great news for working moms who’ve been craving a more enlightened attitude about how work works.
—Sylvia Ann Hewlett, PhD, president and chairman, Center for Work-Life Policy

Too taxing?
I wish our country would import some family-friendly policies from overseas. For instance, my friend who lives in Sweden pays some 50 percent of her salary in taxes but was able to take two years off and still get almost 100 percent of her salary when both of her children were born. She and her fiancé also had the option of splitting the leave between the two of them—allowing her to work two days at full pay and get three days off at nearly 100 percent of her pay while her fiancé worked three days at full pay and got two days off at around 90 percent of his pay.

I, on the other hand, went back to work seven weeks after my daughter was born. I was a legal secretary at a law firm that didn’t offer paid maternity leave for staff (though attorneys got three months), only disability benefits. So when disability was up after six weeks, back to work I went.
—Angela Amico Olchaskey, mom of Kiley, 8, and Working Mother reader

Turn back the clock
I’d like to see the workday change to 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. so that parents could be there for after-school activities or homework without having to stress and rush home.
—Lisa Bill, mom of Brittany, 8, Emily, 7, Christopher, 5, and Tommy, 3, and Working Mother reader

What I really need is another me
I’d like to see companies provide more opportunities for part-time and job-share positions. A 30-hour workweek that still provides benefits is what I need, and I’d even take a pay cut to get it. If I could have the pie in the sky, I’d want companies to provide flexibility for working moms to do all of those things that stay-at-home moms/wives do: errands, laundry, cleaning, kids’ doctor appointments and school meetings. The other day, talking about errands, a male colleague made a comment about how “my wife does that.” And I thought, That’s what I really need, a wife.
—Brandi West, mom of Summer, 5, and Jake, 3, and Working Mother reader

Paid leave for all
When women entered the workforce in record numbers during World War II, they expanded the opportunities for their daughters and granddaughters. Since then, women have pursued higher education and higher office, but America has never ensured quality, affordable child care so that all women can pursue their highest aspirations. Until that happens, paid parental leave is an important step. When I think about what’s next, I imagine a nation that invests in our children from their youngest age, so they have the greatest potential to succeed, and a nation that allows their mothers, if they wish, to pursue their own success outside the home. This will demand mustering all the strategies available to us, including public-private partnerships that are willing to invest in solutions. In the House of Representatives, we’ve passed four weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees when they welcome a new child. This is a significant first step, and it should be expanded to include all workers.
—Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Better than a platinum card: flex credit
It’s the year 2020. To keep all generations of workers happy and to help cap expenses, corporations now offer FamilyFlex to employees. Staffers receive FlexCredits each year based on their position or tenure. These credits can be used toward a menu of benefits: pregnancy support (10 credits), child-tutoring programs (2 credits), extra paid time off (5 credits), sabbaticals (20 credits) and assisted-living benefits (50 credits). Employees can adjust their benefits at any time to fit lifestyle changes, and every plan is customized. The upshot for companies? Reining in benefit costs by limiting spending per employee.
—Lisa Bodell, CEO, futurethink, a research company that helps employers innovate and prepare for tomorrow

Rosie the riveter didn’t cook dinner
Some of the best lessons about work/life balance can be gleaned from the programs put in place during the Second World War, when women were forced into workplaces and factories. One of my favorites from that time is that women could purchase healthy dinners to take home with them from work that just needed to be warmed up. While sweeping changes are clearly needed, sometimes it’s the little things (like not having to prepare dinner) that make everything else seem possible!
—Ramani Durvasula, PhD, mom of Maya, 8, and Shanti, 4, and Working Mother reader

Punching a clock is so 20th century
To reduce employees’ work/family conflicts, strains and overloads, people need greater control over the time and the place they do their work. It isn’t about simply showing up at work, it’s about getting things done. Jobs must be redesigned to offer greater options: For example, allow coworkers in the retail industry to trade hours with one another to fit an unanticipated illness or crisis. Careers must also be reconstructed to make it as easy to opt back in as it is to opt out. Innovative organizations are moving flexibility to this next level, offering employees greater input and control. We need to move from lockstep clockwork to more individualized schedules and career paths.
—Phyllis Moen, codirector of the Flexible Work and Well-Being Center at the University of Minnesota