Work & Family

The bottom line is that the majority of Black Families in California have to solely depend on the Black Women’s earnings. Over 80% of Black mothers are breadwinners, yet many have caregiving responsibilities for an elderly parent, a person with a disability, or a young child, which they must balance with work obligations.

This reality in a high cost of living state like California creates a substantial economic burden for Black Women and therefore has a significant impact on the family.

Although Women in general are more likely than men to report they never interact with senior leaders, Black Women are the most likely of all to report that they never have senior-level contact according to the 2017, LeanIn.Org and McKinsey Women in the Workplace study. The study also reports that Black Women are least likely to be given stretch assignments, which is a step in the promotion process. They report that managers don’t advocate for them for an opportunity or help them navigate organizational politics at lower levels than any other race of Women. In addition, Black Women have the lowest promotion rate and the highest attrition rate than their counterparts. Improving these elements will need an outside-inside approach. A new California workplace standard is required for real change. This includes a legislative intervention that includes expanded parental leave act, anti-retaliation and harassment policies and enhanced paid sick leave.

Companies can also create a more family friendly workplace that is inclusive of nontraditional family structures.

Options include job sharing, telecommuting, support and protecting caregivers in the workplace. San Francisco’s Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance was offered as a model. Tuition reimbursement and leadership development were provided as opportunities for Black Women to tap into in order to excel in their professional lives.

It’s imperative that we redefine the Black Household narrative. With Black Women taking on the financial responsibility of the household, the approach to economic stability has to focus on addressing the barriers that Black Women experience. This includes finding ways to provide resources to programs that provide support to single parents, sole income earners and caregivers. In addition, there needs to be priority policy approach that identifies and addresses gaps that create additional barriers to improving quality of life indexes specifically identified in the data. These interventions aren’t specifically targeted for Black Women. However, the focus does address and can improve the current state of Black Women in California.

Mental health was identified in the forum as an issue of concern that needs to be addressed. Many participants felt that the responsibility burden on Black Women has caused a mental health crisis. Black Women don’t just lack resources to obtain support; they lack the support system that is necessary to help alleviate the stress associated with caring the primary responsibilities for their families.

In addition, there are additional work environment stresses that many Black Women identified as an unaddressed mental health issue including being labeled as “angry, hard to work with, aggressive” as well as the need to assimilate into a work culture that contradicts their cultural norms. Another area of concern identified was the scripted image and portrayal of Black Women and Girls in media, entertainment and music industries. The impact has created a norm that doesn’t represent the diversity of Black Females. It has also created a narrative of Black Women that can also impact mental health.

Attendees believe that weight of these circumstances impacts the way in which Black Women show up at work, at home and in relationships (personal and professional). The recommendations are based on the data as well as the experience that was identified at the forum. Improvement in this area is critical to the success of uplifting Black Women and Girls in California because there is an intersection between social and economic dynamics.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Establish a Black Women’s Oath
Advocate for mental health services and training in the workplace that are culturally relevant to meet the unique needs of Black Women
Continue to support paid family and medical leave and paid sick days as well as identify area of improvement for current policies that uniquely address single parents, sole providers and caregivers
Develop a statewide workgroup with Black Women Human Resource leaders to review best practices and create cultural competency training toolkits for employers who are sole providers, single parents and caregivers
Support Black Women for Wellness’ recommendation to provide free training and classes for high tech jobs for low income families including computer coding, trainings on clean energy technologies, urban planning and engineering
Focus on early education and addressing the achievement gaps to ensure girls are graduating prepared to compete in the emerging career options as well as prepared for college level courses are imperative
Develop policies and identify a funding source to address the cost and availability of quality day care and after school programs
Obtain funding to redefine the narrative of Black Women and Girls through a multilevel marketing campaign