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Greetings!
The midsummer edition of MOTHERS Enews has just landed in your inbox! The swelter across the nation is unbearable, so aim your portable fan at your monitor and read this edition while sipping your favorite ice-cold beverage. You'll find that mothers in Congress make the papers, and a North Carolina court takes judicial notice of the lifetime influence children's experiences in the early years will have. Whether or not contraception is deemed "basic preventive care" for women is under debate, and a new survey finds women with young children in the home are the most likely to feel starved for time (We coulda told 'em.) The real difference maternity leave makes is revealed, as well as the buzz about the value parents add to the workplace. And don't miss the new "MOTHERS Read and Review section! Your summer reading can get a boost from new reviews by MOTHERS members Rona Kitchen and Kelly DiNorcia - more about that at the bottom of this page.
Tell us what you think, and stay tuned to NAMC/MOTHERS and Your (Wo)Man in Washington on Facebook, Twitter, and the blogs......
  
The mothers of MOTHERS.
P.S. NAMC partner, NYS Paid Leave is offering Fighting for Families - Social Media Training for Activists. This training will be held on Wednesday, August 17 at the CUNY Murphy Institute for Worker Education in Manhattan. For more information click here. |
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 DC Dispatch - Women in Politics
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The 100 -degree plus temperatures have clearly fried the brains on Capitol Hill, as debt ceiling and deficit discussions go nowhere, tempers flare and accusations fly. Your (Wo)Man in Washington is keeping her cool reading the latest from the papers about women in politics, this time about the effect of migraines and the Bachmann marriage on a theoretical Bachmann presidency. Congresswoman (and tireless women's advocate) Debbie Wasserman Schultz takes some heat for being "not a lady " while making comments from the House floor. (First we're not tough enough for politics, now we are not acting like ladies? A girl just can't win around here!)
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NC Court Acknowledges Critical Window for Children's Development
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A recent court decision from North Carolina has confirmed what scientists have long known - what happens in the very first years profoundly influences a child's life. Early education experts say that this is "the first time that a court has recognized what decades of scientific research have shown-that the foundation for learning (whether strong or weak) is built long before a child starts kindergarten. Indeed, science tells us that early experiences literally shape the architecture of the developing brain." The importance of a mother's role in this early development, and how we cope under various and quite challenging circumstances, cannot be overstated. More detail here.
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Is Birth Control Basic Preventive Health Care for Women?
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 And should women have to pay "out of pocket" co-pays and deductibles for it even when they have health insurance? Opinions swirl about the new Institute of Medicine recommendation that contraception costs be fully covered under the new health care reform package. Expenses arising from conditions particular to women (i.e. pregnancy, childbirth, menopause) are still often seen as "extras", a bizarre characterization for anything potentially experienced by over half the population, and with consequences for the whole of society. Of course, governmental policy makers are mostly male, the health insurance industry is predominantly male, and health care providers and educators are (still) predominantly male, which may explain why experiences unique to women seem out of the "norm", and subject to individual payment. Here's a NYT opinion piece and a thoughtful hour-long radio discussion moderated by Diane Rehm to lay it out for you.
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| Women With Children Outta Time | | |
 Most people say they have enough time to do everything in their lives that needs to be done. But nearly a third say they don't. Who are they? Mothers and others with children at home. Surprisingly the more education and income you have, the more time-stressed you are likely to feel. From a new Gallup poll, "...the results reveal that, while a majority of working Americans report having enough time to do what they need to do, a significant proportion believe they cannot catch up with their daily obligations and needs. Specific demographic groups such as working women, parents with children in the household, and those at the top of the income spectrum are among the most likely to be time-poor." Read this short summary of survey results .
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| Why Maternity Leave Is So Important |
Women need time to make the changes necessary to care for a new child. They will be happier and healthier if they get it - and so will their children. This doesn't mean they will permanently abandon paid work, nor that their children need them to. "After 4.5 years, many of the mothers had transitioned back into the workplace, learning to balance competing demands on their time between family and work. The transition isn't easy, but the key seems to be having enough time to settle into a new life as both parent and professional. That's why maternity leave is so important-- it's a time entirely devoted to transitioning to the parental role. But it's just as critical for working moms to shift back to work after this leave and reintegrate to work. Parental leave, say the authors, is essential, but staying out of the workforce doesn't ensure either healthy children or parents." TIME magazine reports on data from the National Bureau of Economic Research. |
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Returning Parents Are Terrific Workers
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'Nuf said. Until the US comes up with a logical, comprehensive policy shift that acknowledges workers and caregivers are one and the same, women will quit when children arrive, then have to muscle their way back in, against counter-productive and short-sighted workplace attitudes. An Op-Ed from the Boston Globe.
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MOTHERS Read & Review | | |
We've got the scoop on books you've heard about, didn't have time to read, forgot about, or didn't even know existed - in other words, books about YOU and your life as a mother! Up this month: MOTHERS member Rona Kaufman Kitchen on Joan Williams' Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter and Kelly Coyle DiNorcia cracks the cover of Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life. We want you to join the conversation at the MOTHERS Book Bag on GoodReads.com - post your thoughts, comments, or recommend books you've read. If you've read a book you think we should know about, or if you want to submit your own review for our eNews, let us know at valeriey@motherscenter.org. |
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