Jaime Harrison Quotes

I can't work without my family being with me.

I have a child and I don't want to be at work all the time when he's small. I want to spend time with him.

I'm proud to be Secretary of Labor. But I'm even prouder of two more important titles: dad and husband. I've been able to be all three. I want all working people, no matter what their jobs are, to be able to meet their obligations both at work and at home.

An increasing number of Canadians must juggle the demands of work with the need to care for children, or for family members who are ill or too frail to care for themselves. Our programs have simply not kept pace with these societal changes.

I have a supportive family and an outstanding team, but I also have a flexible work schedule that allows me, at least some of the time, to get to the kids' school program or the doctor visits when I need to. So family-friendly work schedules have become more of a passion of mine, and the cost of childcare is also a huge issue.

Paid family leave, for instance, has strong backing in scientific literature as an effective means of enabling families who want kids to have them.

By adding support for eldercare, spousal care, and children beyond the birth stage, Deloitte's family leave program provides our people with the time they need to focus on their families in important times of need.

We need a national universal paid family leave program that allows families to be together in the most important moments of our lives - from having a baby to caring for a dying parent.

Employee fathers need to step up to the plate and put their family needs on the table.

America is the only high income nation without a paid family leave program. This means that if you or a family member gets sick, there is no guarantee that you can take the time you need to take care of yourself or your loved one, leaving already vulnerable families in the position of making hard decisions in cases of illness.

People who work for me know that family comes first. And I'm fortunate to have a family that is very supportive of the work I do, so I don't have to live two separate lives.

I think somebody ought to do a survey as to how many great, important men have quit to spend time with their families who spent any more time with their family.

I had my daughter, and with that came a deep sense of responsibility; my time for work had become precious, and it had to have more meaning.

The reason my kids come to the set is so I can actually see them.

I'm particularly fortunate to be in a position where I can bring my child to work and be able to get good child care. Not a lot of women have that.

Hardworking men and women deserve not only job security, but also a paycheck when they need to take time off to care for a loved one.

I know people who have literally quit their jobs to spend more time with their children, and I go, 'Wow,' my dad used to go to work at 7 o'clock in the morning and he'd come back at 7:30 and we'd kind of see him walk in and then he'd go upstairs and suddenly he'd be in a T-shirt and grumpy. There wasn't much in the way of conversation that went on.

I think it's incredibly important to spend the first year with your child, and it should be made possible for all women.

I had the luxury of skipping the cabinet meeting to attend my daughter's graduation. So many people don't have the luxury of taking an hour away from the workplace to attend indispensable family commitments. We have to change that dynamic.

You shouldn't have to win the boss lottery in order to have a little bit of flexibility at work. Raising and supporting a family isn't just a financial obligation. What's important isn't just being able to put food on the dinner table - we want you to be at the dinner table, too.

Too many families know what it's like to have to choose between providing care for a family member and keeping their job.

It is the responsibility of all of us to create a culture that encourages and enables fathers to spend more time with their families.

Whether we have a new baby, a sick parent or an injured spouse, taking time off to care for our family member or ourselves is a need almost every one of us experiences during some point in our lives. This is true no matter where people live, what their income level is, or what kind of job they do.

I'm going to do everything I can to bring our policies in line with the way families live and work today by guaranteeing paid family leave and making child care affordable.

I want us to do more to support people who are struggling to balance family and work.