Working Parent in the White House

The selection of Sarah Palin guarentees a working parent with young children will be spending time in the White House starting next year. Barack Obama and his wife would bring two daughters, 10 and 7 years old. While McCain's children are all nearly grown, his VP brings 5 children, with four still living at home.

While there is much debate on which party will more likely support women's issues, it is interesting that little has been said about the obstacles for women (and parents in general) in the workplace. While the candidates themselves are working parents, I have heard little said about how challenging it is to raise their children while working in today's work world.

Much of the debate on Palin surrounds her views on issues such as abortion and teaching abstinence (see for example the blog discussion on Work it Mom). While I agree these are important issues, and I don't agree with Palin's stand, I would like to know more about what each party thinks about workplace flexiblilty issues. They all talk about families, but I've heard no discussions on creating a society where it is not such a challenge to raise children and have a job.