Nancy Pelosi lit up the holiday tree at the U.S. Capitol, and the President has flipped the switch for the National Christmas Tree on the Mall. In spite of the routine of these traditions, many in Washington see significant changes ahead. Recent decades have seen unprecedented social and economic change, but you wouldn't know it from the state of tax, healthcare, or workplace policy. Several hundred advocates and policy analysts met in December to discuss the mismatch between the old social contract and the current American worklife.

Back in the day, the "typical" American worker had one, or possibly two, employers in the course of a lifetime. You could count on health insurance while you worked, and a pension when you retired. Your employer provided training and education, and unemployment compensation. In later life, Medicare, Social Security, and savings accumulated over your worklife played a big part in your comfortable retirement. And you probably didn't need childcare, or sick leave, or any variation in your work hours at all, because your wife "did all that".

How different is life today! More than 70% of households with children have all adults in the paid work force. You will have 10 or 12 employers in a lifetime. Most mothers are employed. A little more than one half of employers still offer health insurance, assuming you can afford to pay for it. Jobs with pensions are even scarcer. Wages haven't risen, even though as a nation our productivity soars. Savings aren't just low, they're all but non-existent. Personal debt, on the other hand is everywhere, and lots of it. And you desperately need sick leave, reliable and affordable child care, paid family leave, and a flexible schedule, so that you can be everywhere you need to be, sometimes all at the same time.

So how do these shifts change the rights and responsibilities in a civil society between families, employers, employees, and our state, local, and federal governments? What will be the shape of this "new social contract" we all will live by? Some suggest that health insurance and pensions must become available to all and citizen-based, and not derived from employment status. The global economy has turned work on its head, with jobs increasingly mobile, dynamic national economies, and volatile markets worldwide. Most wealth is held by corporations, some of which now possess economies bigger than those of some countries. As companies earn more money, individuals are earning less, as wages and salaries stay flat. Soon, 20 - 30% of the work force will be free agents. With more gaps between jobs, fewer benefits, most parents at work, and no gains in household income, families will rely on social insurance programs, like unemployment compensation, universal health insurance, and Social Security, even more for economic stability. Tax policy may look less to income from work, and look more to wealth for revenue.

Against these seismic changes, babies will be born, children will get sick, mothers and fathers will work, and stop work, and go to work again. Our parents will age, we will get older too, and we will tend to a sick family member, or have one tend to us. Eventually we will retire, but still need to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. The past 20 years have seen the risks of normal life that we all share be shifted to the individual. The revolution in work and family won't permit the old systems to stand. As we go about designing our new social contract, we should remember that our creativity and opportunity depend on the health, economic stability, and well-being of all of us. We have every right to insist on policies that reflect that.

'Til next time
Your (Wo)Man in Washington