So, we may sometimes fail in getting our children to eat vegetables, but boy, are we succeeding in changing public policy!

Remember last month when we asked you to demand that Congress and the states stop treating moms and part-time workers like chopped liver and provide unemployment insurance? Well, after nearly 10,000 of your letters to Congress, the New York Times reported that President-elect Obama and Congressional Democrats are now proposing an extension of unemployment insurance to part-time workers! [1]

Give yourself a high five, then let's keep the ball rolling, or more aptly, keep that broccoli going down the hatch.

Tell your Congressional Representatives to support the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA) as part of the economic recovery package they're working on now: www.momsrising.org/ModernizeUnemploymentNow

Forward this message to your friends, and to anyone you know who works part-time, so they can contact their Senators too. Congress is making big decisions, right now, about what to include in the economic recovery package -- they need to hear from as many people as possible that this issue should be at the top of their list for inclusion in the recovery package.

The Lowdown: Including the UIMA in the economic recovery package is essential because right now only 37 percent of unemployed workers receive unemployment benefits. That leaves 63% of people out! This is because Unemployment Insurance was created in 1935, but the workforce has changed dramatically since then: There are far more low-wage, part-time, and women workers in the labor market whose incomes are essential to the family budget.

To be an effective safety net, Unemployment Insurance needs to be updated to meet 21st century economic demands on families.  Without these updates, the economic recovery package will fall short of supporting working families who will be the engine of our long-term economic success. Current Unemployment Insurance programs that do not cover part-time workers and low-wage workers discriminate against mothers and threaten the economic security of families.

Click here to ask your Congressional Representatives to include the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act in the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan proposed by Congress and President-Elect Obama: www.momsrising.org/ModernizeUnemploymentNow

Thank you!

Donna, Katie, Kristin, Joan, and the MomsRising.org Team

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/us/politics/04stimulus.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

P.S. Thanks to our partners at the National Employment Law Project, the Center for American Progress, and the Center for Law and Social Policy for their great work on this issue!