Families and Workplace Flexibility

George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan had kids of both genders, but none who lived in the White House.  President Carter also had sons but the child who lived in the White House during his term was his daughter, Amy. Susan Ford's high school prom was held at the White House.  Harry Truman's only child, a daughter, sang in the White House as a college student.  The one enduring image of a young Presidential son in recent memory is of Caroline Kennedy’s brother, John Kennedy, Jr. playing in the Oval Office. 

There was a time earlier in the 20^th century when future Presidents had sons, but they didn’t often grow up in the White House.  Dwight Eisenhower and Herbert Hoover each had two boys, but they didn’t grow up in the White House.  Calvin Coolidge did have two sons who were young enough to grow up partly in the White House, though they attended high school in Pennsylvania during their father’s presidency rather than in Washington.  Coolidge’s younger son, Calvin, Jr., died from an infected blister he received playing tennis at the White House.  FDR had four boys who reached adulthood, but the youngest was seventeen when his father moved into the White House.

In centuries past, Presidents, like most Americans, had more children than people have had in recent years, so they had a better chance of having both boys and girls.  Yet since World War II, the trend of Presidential occupants with children at home has been towards girls.  This is somewhat surprising as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Trend Analysis of the Sex Ratio at Birth in the United States," found that between 1940 and 2002, 5.7 million more boys than girls were born in America.

One important component is not just gender, but age.  Many Presidents had sons, but mostly they were too old to live in the White House.  There have been almost as many boys (16) born to men who would go on to become President after 1945 as there were girls (19).  Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush all had more boys than girls.  However, none of their boys spent any significant part of their childhood in the White House. 

As one thinks about the 2012 race for who will take on President, and future "father of the bride," Obama, setting aside the kids’ ages, this trend of having girls does not bode well for Mitt Romney's (five boys) presidential aspirations.   Look out for Newt Gingrich though (again two daughters).   

Yet when it comes to children being residents of the White House, the image Americans have in recent years has moved away from that enduring image of John Kennedy, Jr. to the presidential daughters.  The Obama girls continue that trend. 

The presence of the "First Mother in Law" demonstrates that work family balance issues have reached the highest level of American government.  President Obama's experience should no doubt make him more sensitive to the work family balance needs of the American people.

Yet, not every family has "in laws" who can come and help.  That is why workplace flexibility is so important.  Americans need more control of the way and hours they work.  Technology can make that possible.  Creative public policy, incentives for business, creative financing for extended time off, and flexible work arrangements, can help parents care for their children and be productive members of the workforce.

Having children is a joy, but requires attention.  Extended family is a blessing, but not every one has it.  Public policy should help.

David Gray directs the Workforce and Family Program at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC.