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Mom-mentum Advocacy eNews
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The last two weeks have seen a deluge of news about women "in the family way". With legal decisions, new bills in Congress, a Cabinet Secretary and senior White House staff zipping across the country in support of paid family leave, the pace is picking up now that spring is here. I hope this eNews makes you feel informed enough to have an opinion you are comfortable articulating, and engage in conversations about mother's rights with your friends and family. It's the only way we will make the country fulfill its promise.
Best wishes, Valerie Young Your (Wo)man in Washington |
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 DC DISPATCH - TWO BILLS AND A SUPREME COURT DECISION
Hot on the heels of the paid sick days bill (Healthy Families Act) introduced 3 weeks ago, the paid family leave bill (Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act) is now under consideration by the current Congress. As observed in Human Rights Watch: "The US is alone among developed countries in failing to guarantee at least some form of paid family leave. Out of 185 countries covered in a 2014 International Labour Organization report on maternity and paternity leave, only two countries lack paid maternity leave under law: the United States and Papua New Guinea. At least 70 countries guarantee paid paternity leave."
The 2nd piece of legislation that could help women claw their way to workplace justice is the Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by Rosa DeLauro in the House and Barbara Mikulski in the Senate. It would give some real teeth to existing law by closing loopholes, imposing harsher remedies on discriminating employers, and protecting workers from retaliation if they share salary information with co-workers.
The US Supreme Court has made its decision in Young v. UPS, a pregnancy discrimination case in which a pregnant UPS worker was placed on unpaid leave and lost her health insurance when she asked to temporarily lift no more than 20 pounds in accord with her doctor's instructions. The Court held that she could make a successful claim if she returned to the trial court and established, according to the Washington Post, "that she sought an accommodation, her company refused and then granted accommodations to others suffering from similar restrictions."
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HE SAYS "KIDS", SHE SAYS "I DON'T KNOW"
My shero Byrce Covert raised a very revealing question in
her article "When Men Want Kids - and Women Aren't So Sure." What happens when parenthood appeals to men more than women? "Achieving equality in the home is easier said than done: In a 2011 survey of fathers, 65 percent said they believed both parents should spend an equal amount of time on child-rearing. But when asked about their realities, 64 percent said their wives provided more care." Women know that cultural norms and the structure of our private and public institutions that don't value care will put them at risk. Says Tracy Moore in Jezebel, "I also know all sorts of women with men who fancy themselves progressive/liberal/feminist-leaning, but I have seen those relationships play out with children, and the women near-universally do all the things, and are secretly resentful about it, and that's the best-case scenario."
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BREAST MILK FOR SALE
 Here is a touchy subject - breast milk is very valuable, but should it be sold? It's benefits for health and long term positive benefits mean demand is great. This "industrial commodity" has attracted the attention and millions of dollars from venture capitalists, as reported in The New York Times. But it galls me that factories and businesses stand to make so much. Women have a monopoly on breast milk. Why give it away for free? We already do most unpaid labor, suffer lower compensation when we are paid, and pay a steep price for having children. That's why our numbers in leadership and power are so low and our poverty rates much higher than men's. We ought to insist that breastmilk be appropriately valued. But others disagree -- here's an opposing view -- "Give Breast Milk". What do you think?
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Get this -- Josh Levs, the man who covers the fatherhood beat on CNN had to sue his employer to get paternity leave -- when the company offered it to adoptive and surrogate fathers. "In the American work place, though, where just 14 percent of companies offer paid paternity benefits and nearly a third of dads have no access to leave for childcare at all, Levs admits he feels the pressure of going against the grain. "I put myself on the line," he says. "If naysayers turn out to be right and no one wants to hire
me anywhere else later, then the Internet trolls will have their schadenfreude and the message will be, 'Don't challenge your workplace. Don't do it. Don't take the risk.'" Yeah, we know how that feels.....
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Tons of important press from the business world this week. My editor is yelling "Cut! Cut! It's too long already!" But you must know....
Okay, now I'm finished! Whew.
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