At the White House last week, kids dressed as Secret Service agents help protect the podium on the 30th anniversary of Take Our Kids to Work Day.
This year, Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation, the nonprofit that promotes the day was given a publicity boost by the Biden administration, and hopes more organizations will remind people of the importance of showing kids where their parents work.
“It makes them appreciate things that they might not see when they’re stuck in a school building every day for five days a week,” said New Jersey school superintendent Glenn Robbins.
Thirty years ago, the head of the Ms. Foundation for Women, Marie Wilson, was inspired by research into the flagging self-esteem of girls when they reached adolescence to suggest that parents bring their daughters to work to expand their sense of possibility.
The foundation’s cofounder, Gloria Steinem, mentioned the idea in an interview and in the spring of 1993, “Take Our Daughters to Work” day exploded into reality.
“It challenged the workplace to be responsive to the family needs in some ways, even making people aware that many people had children at home,” said Teresa Younger, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women.
The name and date of the day has changed since it started, including boys officially in 2003, though many workplaces have used “kid” or “child” for years. Of course, companies and workplaces are free to organize a day for employees to bring their children to work whenever and however they like.