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The mothers of MOTHERS    

It's easy to find fault with the media.  Lately, however, the frenzy of articles about candidates wooing "the women's vote", insurance coverage for contraceptives and whether Ann Romney was "working" when she was mothering five sons has been serving a useful purpose.  The role of women in society has been changing radically throughout our lifetime, and ramifications in politics, business, health care, and economic policy are inevitable consequences.  It's absolutely critical that there be a wide-ranging and very public discussion about gender equity, removing barriers between family caregiving and work, health care, and women's leadership.  Those conversations are happening, even if they include bone-headed comments, sensationalist headlines, and robust debates that totally miss the point.  It isn't always encouraging, but many an election cycle has come and gone with nary a mention of any issue that impacted women's health or economic security, the value of raising children, and the perils of motherhood.  Let's make the most of this conversation and ensure our opinions are in the mix.  Speak up, speak out, write a letter to the editor, talk to friends and family, go online and say your piece.

If women all voted the same way, we would hold the outcome of every election in our hands.  Because we don't, the candidates try to attract as many of our votes as possible by specifically appealing to what they think "we" care about.  The result is a great deal of one-upsmanship as they try to grab control of both the message and our attention.  You don't have time to read every article on the issue, but you'll get the gist from this  Washington Post piece on the White House's briefing on women and the economy and this  Philadelphia Inquirer article about Mitt Romney's appeal to women.  Whether the attention will result in more women running for office or getting elected is still unknown.  It hasn't helped get the Violence Against Women Act reauthorized this session, and it used to be supported by both parties and passed without controversy.  This year, women's physical safety has become a political toy.  

The value of family carework was front and center when Ann Romney took some heat for "not working" as a stay at home mother of five.  The  New York Times' "Motherlode" blog managed, in 7 very short paragraphs, to hit the high points.  HuffPo featured a longer piece about policies that would help mothers all across the income spectrum, making this point:  "It's time to stop talking about who cares more about mothers and start putting policies in place that value women's work, no matter where it's carried out. That's going to help children derive the benefits of time and attention from their parents, far more than cynical debates that serve little purpose other than to score political points."  We'd vote for that.

Janice Lynch Schuster works with the Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness and as a writer for Altarum Institute, a health systems research and consulting firm. With Drs. Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, she is the co-author of Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness.  We spoke about why mothers need to think about caregiving beyond children. Take a look at the interview here. 

April 17 is Equal Pay Day, representing the additional 3 1/2 months the average woman works to make what the average man earns by the end of the preceding year.  Lots of great perspectives this year, including  this one about motherhood and equal payfrom our friends at A Better Balance.

There's a fact sheet about you, whoever you may be, and where pay disparity hits you at this site from the Center for American Progress.  The motherhood penalty can be even higher for women who breastfeed, asserted by the researchers profiled in this NYT blog. 

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