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COMPANY PARTIES
Holiday festivities survive downturn

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Many employers have continued the longstanding tradition of sponsoring holiday parties, even in a down economy.

A new survey of 339 employers reports that 77 percent plan to sponsor one or more holiday parties. The percentage of companies planning parties is identical to the number reported last year and has remained virtually unchanged since 1998, reports the Bureau of National Affairs Inc., a private publishing and research firm.

The firm noted that organization-wide events continue to be the most popular holiday celebrations. In all, 55 percent of the companies polled will host company parties during the season, about the same number as last year.

''Small companies and nonunion establishments are most likely to sponsor holiday celebrations,'' said BNA. ''Eighty-one percent of smaller organizations said they were planning to sponsor one or more holiday parties in 2003 compared with 66 percent of the larger organizations.''

When the research firm looked at the planned celebrations of nonunion establishments, it found that 83 percent will hold at least one party. By contrast, 60 percent of the unionized establishments were planning a party. The BNA said nonunion employers are often small firms and, thus, are more likely to set aside a portion of the office budget for a celebration of some kind to thank workers and boost morale.

In the late 1990s, many US employers held holiday affairs at hotels, convention halls, or other sites away from the office. That's not happening as much. The BNA study showed that 64 percent of the employers polled will hold off-site events, down from 77 percent in 1999.

Additionally, fewer companies are planning to cover the costs associated with alcoholic beverages and many will not invite outside guests to sponsored corporate events during the holiday season. Guests, including business associates, spouses, and friends, will be welcome at 61 percent of this year's celebrations, continuing a downward trend from 2002 when 63 percent of the companies allowed guests to participate, the report said. The BNA also found that wine, beer, and spirits will be served at about 61 percent of the corporate-sponsored holiday galas, down from 63 percent in 2002 and 69 percent in 2001.

''Both findings indicate cost-cutting measures, likely due to the influence of a weakened economy over the past several years,'' said the BNA report.

The report said that year-end holiday bashes at the companies polled will range from modest to pricey, from a low of $500 to a high of $165,000. For the most part, however, the median estimated cost of companywide celebrations this year will be $9,000, down from a median of $10,000 in each of the last four years.

The corporate festive spirit appears to extend to charitable giving. In a separate report, based on a survey of the same 339 employers, the BNA noted that 69 percent of all employers will take part in charitable events such as toy and food collections, clothing drives, and volunteer work. That percentage is slightly up from 68 percent in 2002. Of those sponsoring charitable events, 75 percent said they would take part in more than one activity, down slightly from 76 percent last year.

HOUSEHOLDS
Forum focuses on work-family goals

How do you promote better day care, more flexible scheduling, and improved working conditions for Massachusetts workers?

A group of 80 academics, nonprofit, and private sector leaders came together last week to discuss that question and create a coalition whose goal will be to develop solutions for workers.

Called the Massachusetts Work-Family Council Initiative, the group held its first meeting at MIT and agreed to meet again in February. The forum, sponsored by the MIT Workplace Center, urged leaders from a variety of sectors and fields to consider the many problems facing Massachusetts' households as they struggle to balance the growing demands of work with their personal and family needs.

Members of the coalition developed a list of areas to work on last week. One group of members said they would study ways to increase onsite corporate day care, and develop a broader and more inclusive statewide daycare policy. Other members said they would work on a report on the benefits of a flexible work force. Also mentioned was launching a statewide campaign in support of paid family leave.

Much of the economic growth experienced between 1983 and 2000 in New England was fueled by working women, many of them mothers, and they continue to play a vital role in the state's economy, according to a study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. The study revealed that women have been working more hours to boost family income, which has spurred growth.

However, those extra hours have meant less time with children and families and has made it virtually impossible for some parents to participate in community or school events, said economist Paul Harrington, associate director of the university center.

EARNINGS GAP
All paychecks still not created equal

Women still don't earn as much as men.

For every dollar a working man made last year, his female counterpart took home 78 cents. That's up from 63 cents in 1979, when the federal government began keeping those statistics, reports the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In New England, the 2002 earnings gap between men and women ranged from 79.8 percent in Vermont to 73.9 percent in New Hampshire, the bureau said. In Rhode Island, the earnings gap was 78.7 percent, meaning that women took home only 78.7 percent of every dollar paid to a man doing the same work. In Massachusetts, the gap was 78 percent, and in Maine it was 76.3 percent. Connecticut reported a gap of 76.9 percent.

Nationwide, the gross median weekly earnings of full-time female wage and salary earners was $530 in 2002, federal statistics showed. By contrast, males working full time earned $680 per week.

In Massachusetts, women earned $621 per week, higher than the national average but lower than the $796 average week wage paid to men in the Bay State. In Vermont, males earn $643 per week. By contrast, women in that state earn $513 per week.

Dennis McSweeney, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' New England region, reported that the gross average weekly earnings of women working full time in key New England states were significantly higher than the gross average weekly wages of women in other states.

Last year, for example, women in Connecticut earned, on average, $647 per week before taxes. In Rhode Island, the average weekly pay was $567. In New Hampshire, it was $553.

''There are a lot of reasons for this,'' said McSweeney. ''So, some of it has to do with educational attainment. Women are gaining in education so there have been increases, but they are still not in the highest-paid occupations.''

DIANE E. LEWIS

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