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Greetings!
Summer camp, cookouts, vacations - it's a busy time. Pour a long tall glass of lemonade or iced tea, and sit a spell with us. In this midsummer edition you'll find out what the US Supreme Court and members of Congress are doing that is going to rock your world.
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Don't forget to check in with me regularly on Facebook and Twitter - not a day goes without something happening that bears directly on your life, your income, and your motherhood.
Best wishes,
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.
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 The US Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case has been the focus of women's advocacy groups in Washington this week. In a ground-breaking decision, the Court held that a for profit corporation may opt out of a portion of the new health care law because of a sincerely held religious belief. The law in question, coverage of contraception costs in a policy of health insurance, is what has everyone steaming. Supreme Court decisions have significant impact, and this one is no exception. It will be playing out in boardrooms and bedrooms for years to come. Get the scoop at the Washington Post's Wonkbook: Everything You Need To Know About the SCOTUS Contraception Ruling.
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 Hobby Lobby - The Backlash |
 In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in the religious freedom vs. contraception coverage case, some Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation that would prevent a corporation from avoiding health insurance coverage for contraceptive care in policies offered to its employees. Senator Patty Murray is quoted in the New York Times: "Your health care decisions are not your boss's business. Since the Supreme Court decided it will not protect women's access to health care, I will." |
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Hobby Lobby and the November Elections
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 For family caregivers, there are many reasons to vote in the mid-term elections. Candidates want your vote, and they are particularly happy to hear from you during the campaign season. Equal pay, paid family leave, and employment protections for pregnant workers can be major issues if we ask the candidates their positions on these bills languishing in Congress, called respectively the Paycheck Fairness Act, the FAMILY Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Candidates in both parties will be using the Hobby Lobby decisions to attract attention, Republicans to the victory for religious freedom, and Democrats to the rollback on women's rights. NPR gives you a preview - read the transcript or listen to the 4 minute audio feature.
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Rep. Lowey Wants Caregiver Credits
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Of course, once you have a baby, a whole slew of consequences may follow, and for women especially, it's hard to avoid taking a whopping economic hit. US Rep. Nita Lowey wants to mitigate that with her legislation for Social Security caregiver credits. In order to boost your benefit in retirement, when women's poverty rate is double that of men's, you could claim a credit for a limited number of years spent caring for children, ill or disabled family members, or an aging parent. It's an effort to counter that "perfect storm" of economic insecurity in old age, when a lifetime of lower pay, employment interruptions, and smaller savings converge - and of course most family caregivers are women.
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| Work Life Balance Knows No Gender |
 "Women, it seems, have achieved equality as long as they die childless at age thirty. Hooray for progress." A friend on Facebook recently recounted one day in which she'd received a lecture at work about giving her all and not cutting out early, and getting a parent-shaming speech about being late for the child care pick-up. Bad worker vs. bad parent - moms never seem to get a break. Will this help? Let's make work-life balance a men's problem, too, from Women's Agenda. |
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