At the 11th annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting Sept. 29, Cornell University and the American Academy of Pediatrics became part of a coalition to help enhance the quality of life for working parents and their newborns.

Prior to the CGI’s closing session, leaders from each organization joined former President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, to announce formation of the Working Parent Support Coalition. These leaders articulated their commitments to implement a range of parental workplace support practices in their companies. Coalition members include such businesses as Barclay’s, Danone, EY, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Nestlé.

These organizations are committed to addressing challenges faced by working parents nationwide that negatively impact children’s health, the economy and women’s advancement in the workplace. Despite efforts to lower barriers for parents and to balance work and parenthood, parental leave practices in the United States are still below global standards, especially for women.

While studies have shown that leaves of even nine weeks can lower infant mortality by 10 percent and that higher breastfeeding rates lead to a lower risk of childhood obesity, the United States – unlike most other countries – does not require paid maternity leave, and an estimated 40 percent of all workers do not qualify for unpaid time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

Coalition members hope to address these challenges by promoting flexible return-to-work practices and gender-neutral policies, creating a culture of support for working parents, and training managers and leaders. Coalition members will tailor their “commitment to action” by type of benefits, scale and reach, based on their own workplace settings, resources and employees’ job requirements.

Mary Opperman, Cornell’s vice president for human resources and safety services, is collaborating with Kathleen M. Rasmussen, professor of nutritional sciences, to determine the most effective roles for Cornell to assume in this coalition.

“Improved parental leave policies help families by improving the health of mothers and their young children,” Rasmussen said. “They also help companies by reducing the stress experienced by families with young infants and increasing employee loyalty. I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with others at Cornell to assess our own parental leave policies.”

Rasmussen is internationally known for her research on maternal and child nutrition; she and her students have been studying the association between maternal obesity and reduced duration of breastfeeding, why this occurs, and the consequences it has for maternal health and infant feeding practices. They also are investigating how breast milk expression affects maternal health and infant feeding practices.

“The faculty and leadership of Cornell University look forward to partnering with, and learning from, companies that have made a commitment to parental and child health,” Opperman said. “We share their commitment and are grateful to have access to the expertise of our faculty, academics and staff in global maternal and infant health.”