Mom-mentum Advocacy eNews
Tuesday, June 9, 2015


 Greetings!

Summer is off to a great start and we are gearing up for camp and picnics and long lazy afternoons. Individuals and families both need a change of scene and a shakeup in routine to recharge and renew. Do make sure, if you possibly can, that you get all the replenishing and nourishing you need -- we can't effectively care for others unless we first care for ourselves. I hope part of your care is spending a few minutes with this Advocacy eNews, because the wider world influences your mothering as much as you do.
 
Best wishes,
Valerie Young
Your (Wo)man in Washington
Article1
DC DISPATCH - CONGRESS GOES ROGUE AND AGREES!!

In a refreshing departure from years of gridlock, members of the US Congress actually agree that pregnant workers shouldn't be fired for being... pregnant. Just when you give up entirely and look elsewhere for sanity and common sense, you get a shock like this! Republic Senators Kelly Ayotte and Dean Heller introduced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) along with Democratic Senator Bob Casey. This is the umpteenth introduction for the PWFA, but the very first time Republicans have shown support. As noted in Bustle, 66% of US women work through a pregnancy, and women are half the labor force. If you want to be a serial activist and move the dial on family economic security in the US, call or email your Congressional representative and say "I'm a constituent -- Pass the Pregnant Workers' Fairness Bill already!"

 

 

   

Article2YOU'LL HAVE THAT COFFEE TO GO, SIR!

 

Here's a news story you don't see every day. A man goes into the Cheese and Biscuits café in Queensland, Australia and orders a cup of coffee. Also in the café is a woman breastfeeding her baby. First the man complains to the manager, who refuses to ask the woman to cover herself at his request. Then the man complains directly to the mother. When the manager hears of it, she takes his coffee and pours it into a go cup and shows him the door! And wait, it gets even better -- the story goes viral and is reported all over the world!  Score one for moms!!  Cheese and biscuits, anyone?

Article3WHAT WOULD YOUR KIDS SAY? 

Some weeks ago the NYT published Mom: The Designated Worrier. The gist of it was that no matter the goal of shared parenting, equal engagement at work, and all the best intentions, mothers will still devote more mental energy to family operations than dads. Many interesting conversations followed -- I know because I was there for some of them. Now the Times is asking kids 13 and up for their perceptions of their parents' division of domestic labor, whether it's fair or effective, and how they see themselves parenting one day. Considering how often children end up modeling their parents behavior, it's a worthwhile question.
Article4PAY NOW, PAY LATER -- 
PRESCHOOL OR PRISON?

 

We all pay, one way or another, for living together in a society. So serious thought ought to be given to the best way to spend public dollars. Pennsylvania's Governor wants to increase early education funding because he knows it will reduce future spending in incarceration. His budget includes an addition $100 million to cover 11,600 additional children in early childhood programs. Projections put future savings for the state at $350 million as a result of that initial $100 million investment.  Quite the tidy return on investment.

Article5THE AMERICAN WORK ETHIC --
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

  

We work too much. It makes us miserable. And it exacerbates gender inequality. So suggests new data reported in The 24/7 Work Culture's Toll on Families and Gender Equality, minimizing the role played by a lack of pro-family policies, and emphasizing that a time-centric work model underserves both men and women. "The researchers said that when they told the consulting firm they had diagnosed a bigger problem than a lack of family-friendly policies for women -- that long hours were taking a toll on both men and women -- the firm rejected that conclusion. The firm's representatives said the goal was to focus only on policies for women, and that men were largely immune to these issues."  Riiiiiiight...
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