A panel of influential women authors, columnists and government officials met recently at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss challenges to women currently working in or looking to re-enter the labor market.

Critics have argued for decades that current laws lag far behind cultural practices and put the squeeze on working couples. Citing that it was not a gender problem, but a family problem, panelists urged government leaders to update tax and labor laws to level the playing field for full-time working moms.

Kim Strassel, who has co-authored a book on the entrance of women into the workforce, pointed out that the nation is still being governed by laws that were made in the 1940s and 1950s. For example, two-thirds of the nation’s households are supported by dual earners, but current laws were constructed during a time when two-thirds of houses were supported by one wage earner and a spouse who stayed at home. Of course, stay-at-home dads comprise a larger population than ever before, but there is a tendency to still view women in domestic terms, especially as a caregiver.

“Many women tend to bear the emotional and financial burden of serving as caregivers for older parents, relatives or friends,” said Kristie Darien, executive director for the Legislative office at the NASE. “This can be especially hard for the self-employed, who often take time away from work and will lose an average of $67,202 in pension benefits.”

The panelists discussed several areas of improvement and some possible solutions. They proposed increasing the availability of flexible benefit systems for employees, which would allow them to opt out of duplicate benefits that many households with two full-time workers often face, and receive larger salaries instead. It would also apply to part-time workers who would trade lower wages for increased health and retirement benefits. In an age of increasing anxiety about affordable health care and the availability of retirement benefits, the authors recommended “portable” programs that would allow employees to switch jobs without fear of losing any accrued benefits. They also supported a revised Social Security method for spouses in which earnings sharing could be converted to any personal retirement account system.

There are signs of improvement. While estimates of the current number of companies that offer childcare support to their employees is only about 4 percent, legislation involving the continued approval of health savings accounts gives women—who are more likely to make many of the health care decisions of the family—more control over household spending.

“Congress has taken some significant steps this year to make health care more accessible and streamline its operations,” Darien says. “Though they weren’t able to pass legislation on health IT, the NASE is happy that they’ve been able to promote an increase in the use of health savings accounts.”

The forum was presented by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) and the National Press Club Newsmaker Program. The panelists also discussed the increasing number of stay-at-home dads, how businesses might make more family-friendly policies for working parents, such as the availability of affordable, quality childcare choices. They urged lawmakers to examine a flexible employee benefit system, health and retirement funds that accrue, giving employees more flexibility over changing jobs, and a revamping of Social Security Benefits that spouses receive.

Tools to help women micro-business owners get involved, as well as up-to-date legislative information, are available to NASE Members at the online Women’s Resource Center at http://women.NASE.org.