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For just $35 a year you will get discounts to conferences, free webinars and access to members-only discounts and resources. Your tax-deductible donation will also provide programs and support for the caregiving work mothers perform.  

 

JOIN the NAMC, the parent organization of MOTHERS, and make a difference for MOTHERS in concrete ways!

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How can one gift make thousands of women happy?
 
A portion of each purchase of a
Signature Mothers' Center Bracelet by Jewels For A Cause goes to the National Association of Mothers' Centers. Makes a wonderful gift for your mother, aunt, best-friend and for yourself. 

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Mothers' Center & New Mom Signature Bracelets
 
A great gift idea.

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 September 15, 2011

Greetings!
 

We hope your summer was full of lazy days and sunshine.  No doubt the rhythm of life has picked up in your home; it certainly has for us at MOTHERS.  We are resuming our twice monthly enews schedule, and invite your input for events, articles, books to recommend and items to include. In the meantime take a look at what we have in this issue. 

Don't forget to follow NAMC on Facebook, keep up with policy news at Your (Wo)Man in Washington, and take a look at our parenting blog, Mothers Central. 

 

Tell us what you think, and stay tuned to NAMC/MOTHERS and Your (Wo)Man in Washington on Facebook, Twitter, and the blogs...... 

 

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The mothers of MOTHERS.

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DispatchDC Dispatch - White House and Women Advocates

CapitolThe White House keeps tabs on issues of concern to mothers and makes a point of keeping an open line of communication with women's advocates.  On September 5, Avra Siegel and Hallie Schneir from the White House Council on Women & Girls sat down with us in Washington.  They conveyed the President's support for pay equity, job promotion, women-owned small businesses, and especially for workplace flexibility.  Much attention was given to aspects of the new health care reform law that will directly benefit mothers and their families.   Specifically mentioned were the provisions in the law promoting breastfeeding, prohibiting higher premiums for women than for men, and requiring coverage for maternity care and contraceptives.  You can get the skinny on what the President says his jobs bill offers women from this Fact Sheet, or click through to the Council's home page and sign up for weekly emails.

OpenSeason"Open Season on Mothers"

A recent legal opinion in an anti-discrimination case from New York has mothers and work/family advocates fuming.  Mothers employed by Bloomberg, the financial news corporation, alleged they were replaced by less qualified employers while on maternity leave,  paid less after returning from maternity leave, and excluded from management meetings. Judge Loretta Preska dismissed the claim early on in the pre-trial stage, in spite of numerous offensive and discriminatory statements and actions.  That would be enough to cause comment, but the judge went much further, and quoted General Electric CEO Jack Welch's infamous declaration "There's no such thing as work life balance."  (Jack Welch as a legal authority on working conditions for parents?  That's odd.)  Here's a sampling of the range of comment in the media following the decision:

  • Joan Williams, a true legal authority on maternal discrimination at work, points out exactly what's wrong with the opinion and its consequences in an excellent HuffPo piece.  "If we abandon these basic principles of anti-discrimination law, it's open season on mothers... Studies show what dooms women economically in the United States is not being a woman -- it's being a mother." 
  • Our friends at A Better Balance, mothers' advocates based in New York,  posted this analysis.
  • The Wall Street Journal calls it "tough luck for working moms". 
  • The Hill published this piece agreeing with the decision, by a mother of two who argues forcing change on the workplace will make women less-employable.

FirstYearsWhy Those First Years - and Mothers - Are So Important

Mom and babyWe already know what makes human beings successful - lots of the right kinds of interactions in the first few years.  The data has been piling up for some time now, and experts in many fields are reaching the same conclusion - humans learn essential "soft skills" most easily while the brain is still developing.  When young children have the chance to work together, negotiate, talk, handle frustration, and resolve conflict, they benefit in adulthood.  They will have better health, more education, longer periods of employment, and higher incomes.   NPR reports that preschool offers many of these opportunities.  Women's Policy Inc. has a short summary of a recent US Senate hearing on child care quality that took place last week.  With mothers still performing most of the family care at home, their role in the future well-being of their children can hardly be exaggerated.  Further, it suggests only negative implications for budget cutting strategies that reduce or stop funding for quality child care and early education initiatives.  Saving money in the short term may yield less educated, less stable families and less-employable workers in the years to come.

 

LATimesThe LA Times Declares "Staying Home Is Hard!"

They could have just asked us - we woulda told 'em!  But really, being a mother is hard, no matter how you approach it.  We know there is simply no one "right way", and whatever your situation now, it will likely change in five, ten, or fifteen years.  No matter your solution at the moment, this probably applies to you - "For women, the message is 'be gentle with yourself...Accept that if the balance between work and family feels hard, it's because it is. It's not because you're not successful."  Hear, hear!! Click here for the full article.

OptOutThe Opt Out Myth Was A Lie, But It's Still Holding Women Back

When we cast mothers' experiences of the worklife mismatch in the language of "my choice" or "opting out", we may be missing other external forces at work.  Perhaps it's more comfortable to think we are in charge and controlling our fate.  But is that really the case?  The Glass Hammer reports on academic research concluding that "our culture of individualism" is actually working against women with children.   "According to the research, women who described their career breaks as the result of personal choice were less likely to identify examples of discrimination and structural barriers to advancement. Choice-focused women were blind to societal and environmental disadvantages that may have influenced their career trajectory."  The Huffington Post looks at the effect of this "choice rhetoric" here.

ReadReviewMOTHERS Read and Review
We welcome your suggestions and/or reviews for books you've seen or read about our favorite subject - mothers!  You can see our past reviews and post your thoughts for discussion.  Sign up at GoodReads.com and search under "Groups" for the Mothers Book Bag page.