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Greetings!
We hope you survived the holidays and are back in the swing of things. You'll find lots of news below, and more thoughts on motherhood at our (Wo)man in Washington and Mothers Central blogs..Join us in changing the conversation.
Regards,
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. |
The latest display of maternal activism has taken off - it's called One Million Moms for Gun Control. Formed in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting by Shannon Watts, a mother of five in Indiana. Demonstrations for gun control are slated for January 21 in New York City, and January 26 in Washington DC, for those of you looking to exercise your right to free speech and right to assemble. Virtual rallies and a social media campaign will also be available on line. Also known as 1MM4GC, they seek the ban of assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and background checks for all gun purchasers. Check 'em out!
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 Invisible and Uncounted
You probably know that the central factor of economic productivity, GDP, does not include what we spend a lot of time doing - raising children, running households, and looking after family members that have trouble managing it all themselves. This invisible work, amazingly, isn't tracked around the world even when it is done for pay. NPR recently reported that the UN is trying to collect data about "domestic workers", those who look after children, clean houses, or care for the elderly. Current estimates indicate that 53 million do this work worldwide, primarily women, and probably half do so without any legal rights or a single worker protection. The number of paid domestic workers has exploded since the mid -1990's, in reaction to the number of women leaving home for work, and aging populations, like our boomer generation. Nonetheless, without the support of regulations setting a fair wage or reasonable working hours, abuse and exploitation abound. Policy making can't occur, though, until reliable, complete data is gathered, and most nations just don't keep track. What is it about "traditional women's work", which produces and maintains people, the most basic building block of every society, that renders it so unworthy of attention? |
What's Between You and the Glass Ceiling?
 "Well, there's one word: children. What happens is that women work fewer hours than men. They take off more time for maternity leave. They tend to also work - they're far more likely to work part-time than men are. And according to surveys, they seem to want it that way, though we have to always make the caveat that yes, there is discrimination. But the major factor in the gap - both the gender gap, wage gap and the gap at the very top, the gap among the alpha females - is due to children." From NPR's All Things Considered, about women's failure to reach the top of the professional world.
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Paid Leave for New Parents - Anywhere But Here
As Zach Rosenberg has been highlighting on 8BitDad, companies aren't required to offer paternity leave here. That is hardly surprising because while other countries are expanding their policies to include Dads, we are essentially the last place on the planet that hasn't even embraced the narrower idea of leave for mothers. There are only three countries like this -- Papua New Guinea, Swaziland... and the one that prides itself on being the leader of the world.
I don't know what else to say about this one....best just to move on!
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What CAN'T a Pregnant Woman Do?
 I sat down, I napped, I may occasionally have gone for a walk when I was pregnant. Look at these mothers-to-be - some of us will run marathons, sing an aria, or dance a pas de deux. You go, girl! I'm cheering for you right from my seat here on the sofa. From The Washington Post: "So expectant mothers adapt. They perform with precision, even as their instruments change. Dancers mourn the loss of muscle tone as it melts away like a Dali scene. Opera singers revel in the surge of hormones that give their voices richer, fuller timbre. Cellists lay their instruments on their bellies and hope the baby doesn't kick when the timpanist strikes." Occupational hazards for the pregnant woman!
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