Talking with your Senator Module 4, Class 1 Exercise A Teaching Module Developed by the Curriculum Task Force of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network

5 Minutes with Your Legislator You will be assigned to one of a number of diverse family types/situations. Assume you have 5 minutes to spend with the legislator who represents your district. You want to explain your situation and what you think he/she should do about it (i.e., make a policy suggestion). Take 5-7 minutes to discuss this and be prepared to tell the class your thoughts.

You are a 34 year old immigrant from Mexico. You have two kids age 12, and 8, both born in the U.S. Both you and your husband work in a poultry processing plant for $5.35/hour, no health insurance, a poor quality car, and substandard housing. Your kids take care of themselves when they get out of school, in a neighborhood that is not altogether safe.

You are a healthy and energetic 63 year old man who has three grandchildren. Your life has been spent working long hours in a high powered job. By all accounts, you have been a great success and an asset to the company. Unfortunately, your company has a policy of strongly encouraging retirement at age 65. While you genuinely want to spend more time with your grandchildren and explore new interests, the though of leaving work totally behind is a bit scary.

You are a career naval officer who is in a long term committed relationship to another man. You work on a nuclear submarine, in close contact with other men. Consistent with naval policy, you don’t tell and they don’t ask. But on a daily basis you observe both your superiors and subordinates kidding and mocking one another as being gay if they do not talk about sexual exploits or laugh at humor intended to gay bash. The U.S. Navy does not extend benefits to unmarried partners, let alone those in same sex relations. You and your partner have started discussing the prospect of adopting a child. The Navy does offer some benefits to married couples who are pursuing families.

You are a stay at home mother, whose children have just reached school age. You would like to restart your education, which had been in business marketing. You intend to return to school part time, and anticipate that when you finally do get your degree you will be in your mid 40s. The highly competitive schools expect students to attend full time, and usually only offer classes during the days, which will conflict with some of the time you hoped to spend with your children in the afternoons. You and your spouse have wondered about your prospects of landing a good job after graduating, even if you do make sacrifices for the sake of your education.

You are the evening manager in a small company, as well as a new parent, having just given birth to twins. The doctors say that the children, born two months premature, will be spending the next 60 days in a neonatal intensive care unit. The pay you receive has been pretty good and your job offers health insurance. The owner of the company, while sympathetic, has informed you that she will need to hire someone to take your place if you can not return very soon to perform your duties. While you have modest savings, medical bills are going to mount. Your husband also works, but in a job that offers no health insurance. His pay, alone, will not make ends meet. A lifelong goal of yours has been to spend time with your kids, and the thought of leaving them (even with your husband) makes you cry.