July 29, 2014

It's practically August and I'm going on hiatus until September. Washington should empty out, traffic should disappear, and parking spaces should be plentiful downtown with everyone at the beach. I'll be back in a few weeks, but I'm leaving you with the latest news before I slide into my flip flops and head for the shore.

Check Out What's In This Issue

DC Dispatch

The Most Accomplished Women In the World Have the Same Problems You Do

Mary Poppins Takes A Hike!.

Dads On Paid Leave

Feminism's Next Wave?

Your Gift Makes a Difference for Families

Happy summer,

Your (Wo)man in Washington

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 DISPATCH

Congress is about to skedaddle for its summer vacation - tho' some may say for all they've done they may as well have been on vacation for months already! By the time they return in September, November's mid-term elections will be looming large and sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Yet more missed opportunities to act on policies that would really help mothers and their families!

Two such bills were introduced recently. First, the Schedules That Work Act, introduced by US Rep. Rosa DeLauro, would give part-time workers more notice of shifts and assignments so they wouldn't have to juggle so much chaos from erratic schedules and last-minute changes. Sen. Eliabeth Warren will soon introduce a version in the Senate, and she says, "A single mom working two jobs should know if her hours are being canceled before she arranges for daycare and drives halfway across town to show up at work...This is about some basic fairness in work scheduling so that both employees and employers have more certainty and can get the job done." Many mothers work part-time to accommodate the caregiving needs of their family members, so this legislation is most likely to impact women's lives. Get all the arguments, pro and con, in the New York Times Room for Debate column.

While paid family leave is still not the law of the land, two members of Congress are trying to nudge us closer by creating a tax credit for those employers who voluntarily offer it. Senators Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and Angus King of Maine, introduced the Strong Families Act this week that would make a tax credit available if the employer offered at least four weeks of paid family leave. We appreciate the effort - and hope the next Congress will be more inclined to do its job and conduct that nation's business!

The Most Accomplished Women In the World Have the Same Problems You Do

Don't believe me? Cabinet secretaries, reporters, writers, police chiefs all say what you say. Watch!

Mary Poppins Takes A Hike!

Dads On Paid Leave

t was a BIG week for press about dads' expectations about caregiving and paid leave. Brigid Schulte has hopeful news about younger fathers, and depressing news about our work culture which typically punishes men for the very suggestion they may actually do some family caregiving in this Washington Post article. Roll Call's Rebecca Gale put the light on how much paid parental leave members of Congress offer their staff. She even got on TV to talk about it!

Feminism's Next Wave?

MSNBC declares that feminism's next wave is economic justice for working women. I like the sound of this:

The time is ripe to push for an ambitious economic security agenda for women and families. Companies need our skills and talents. Advocates need our support to succeed on almost every issue. Politicians need our votes to win. We can use our power to make sure women are paid what they deserve and enact policies that allow both parents to spend time with their newborns; to make child care more affordable, and create flexible work environments. All American families - moms, dads, and kids - should be able to make it work. Our country will be the better for it.