Brush Stroke
October 18, 2012
     
Greetings! 
    
The election is coming! Are you prepared? This issue of our eNews is packed with information on a range of topics that our candidates should be interested in and talking about.  Take a look:
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The National Association of Mothers' Centers (NAMC) provides programs that empower mothers, fathers and caregivers to find solutions that work for their families, their work lives and their personal lives.
Dc DispatchDispatch
The Election is Coming!
 

Congress has left town to campaign and Washington has gone eerily quiet on Capitol Hill.  Election Day is right around the corner on November 6, and then we'll know who'll be back to tackle the immense problems we face. 

 

Many schools across the country will be closed for the election, so plan activities with your kids or line up alternative child care arrangements in advance. Taking the children with you to your polling place can be fun, if the lines aren't too long and everybody gets an "I Vote" sticker at the end.  If that doesn't work for you, many states allow early voting, so you can skip the mob entirely on election day and go apple-picking instead.  

 

Hop on over to the blog at  Your (Wo)Man in Washington for more help on sizing up the candidates.  You'll find the questions they should answer, suggested by the Caring Economy Campaign, and more tips to make sure your voice is heard.

BreastfeedingBreastfeeding in the Marketplace

  

Mother Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is harder than ever now that new moms are sent home almost as soon as the umbilical cord is cut.  Lactation support often gets shortchanged, and many mothers are back at work well before the first year, the time span that pediatricians recommend for breastfeeding.  The US has an appalling record in breastfeeding policy, with most working parents lacking any time of guaranteed leave after the birth of a son or daughter.  No doubt these circumstances contribute to the establishment of Manhattan's Yummy Mummy, a boutique for all things nursing mothers need or desire.  Patrons can also sign up for pre-natal yoga classes, interview a "doula", or labor coach, and pick up tips for latching on.   Put it on your list for your next visit to the Big Apple.

Kids
The Real Cost of Staying Home with Your Kids

 

In much of the US, the price of childcare is astronomical.  Unlike most other countries, public money subsidizes childcare for only the poorest children, and even then, millions of eligible kids don't get it.  

Downward Slide

Both low and middle income families face this dilemma.  For mothers who want or need to work, staying home because you can't find affordable care has a high price too.  It's not just the lost income while you're home - it's the lost earning power once you go back that has the bigger impact.  It will lower your earnings, so you never really catch up.  Whatever pension or retirement savings you accrue will be smaller.  So will your social security benefits when you retire, because they are calculated on the wages you earned.  Does the US's failure to implement a realistic child care policy contribute to the shrinking of the middle class?  This article from Marketplace and the related comments provoke many thoughts.

 

 

Pregnant Woman Well into the second decade of the 21st century, and pregnancy remains an economic drag for women.  Articles just like this one from the New York Times still appear with frustrating frequency in our national media.  Honestly, how long are we supposed to wait for things to come right?  Women will work, and women will get pregnant, and one needn't make the other impossible - persistent attitudes and out of date policies do real harm to women and their families.

MajorityThe Missing Majority:  Domestic Policy Through A Woman-Less Lens

 

Riane Eisler and Kim Otis of the Caring Economy Campaign (of which NAMC is a member and to whose Advisory Council Your (Wo)Man in Washington lends her expertise) wrote this op-ed in the Huffington Post following the first Presidential debate.  An excerpt, referring to our high rates of infant and maternal mortality, the pay gap, women's poverty rates, and caregiving:

 

We need to know how our next president plans to address these pressing issues. Again, this is not only vital for women but for everyone. Studies show that when women and the care work they do are valued, the return on investment for the entire nation is enormous, including measurable reductions in child abuse, domestic violence, poverty, and crime. Our taxes have been used to fund huge deficits for wars and corporate bailouts, while spending for "soft," traditionally "women's work" of healthcare, teaching, and early childhood education has been deemed wasteful -- even though it is the most cost-effective investment a nation can make.

 

Candy Crowley, are you listening??

Mothers with baby

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