Poll: Workplace rights a rising issue among voters

Workplace-family policies will be a deciding factor for millennials, people of color and unmarried women in the next presidential election, according to a new poll released Thursday by Make it Work.

The family friendly workplace advocacy group’s poll found that these voters, known as the Rising American Electorate (RAE), were more likely to support a presidential candidate who champions equal pay for equal work, paid family leave, affordable child care, paid sick days and a higher minimum wage.

Of the RAE voters polled, 84 percent supported a plan to expand access to child care, strengthen equal-pay laws, create a paid family leave program, ensure paid sick days and raise the minimum wage, compared to 75 percent of voters overall, and 68 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported this plan, compared to 56 percent of voters overall.

“Having a job and being there for your family has become mutually exclusive for too many Americans, especially those who make up the new American majority,” Vivien Labaton, Make it Work’s co-founder and co-executive director, said in a news release. “It’s untenable and these polling results show voters don’t just support fair and family friendly workplace policies – they will advocate for them and support a candidate who does so too.”

The poll also found that 61 percent of RAE voters believe child care is too expensive and 54 percent believe that the government should play a role in making it more affordable for parents.