Ladies, we are in serious trouble here. In the annual ranking of 133 countries around the globe on the issue of gender equality, the U.S. once again fails to make the top 10. Or the top 20. We may be the world's only remaining super power, but women are worse off here, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report for 2013 , than in Canada, Ireland, South Africa, the Philippines, and 18 other countries. This analysis measures women's rates of political empowerment and political participation, education, health and economic parity. We have been dramatically outclassed by...

There is nothing remotely chic or glamorous about being poor and elderly. Yet women are far more likely than men to find themselves in that exact situation. Women make less and live longer, so smaller resources have to stretch to cover longer years. In many cases, if they'd clued in sooner, many women could have improved their long range financial security. Getting a few basic facts under your belt can put you in charge of your destiny. That's a good thing, because nobody else may be looking out for you. I bet that you are already so overextended that thinking about yourself, and something so...

The shutdown of the federal government is disastrous for millions of women, families, and households across America. A few examples: Almost 9 million mothers and children under five lost their vouchers for food, baby formula, and breastfeeding support under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC; Head Start and Early Head Start , which already lost 57,000 children due to the sequester cuts, has now lost another 19,000 children from the pre-school and child care program; Adult day care and child care centers run with federal funds have laid off...

I spend more time than I’d like talking policy with people who will never in a million years agree with me. I suppose that’s an occupational hazard in my line of work. Sticking up for a position is no way to avoid conflict, but I’ve learned to live with disagreement, listen to contrary opinions, say my piece and go my own way. I believe most of us already have our minds made up, not on the basis of accurate data, or solid research and analysis, but something more personal. We see our surroundings through a swirl of impressions, observations, our individual experiences and bits of information...

Every Augu st, Washington seems to empty out, and you can do the unthinkable - drive from one side of town to the other in 20 minutes flat. It takes longer to shop at the farmers’ market, selecting from the cornucopia of seasonal produce, than it does to get through the morning paper, skimpy without the political coverage. Happily, though, articles about mothers continue to appear, as our growing national conversation about public policy and private life advances. Two articles appeared within a single news cycle about women in the work force and child care from two totally different vantage...

Mothers are driven to protect their children. It’s innate. When the very laws we live by allow our children to die, with bullets buried in the bodies we birthed and love, our hearts explode in rage and pain that transforms us and makes of us something distinctly other than that which we were before. This is a story of the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary and how it propelled them into the world of gun control legislation and political action. It could be the story of anyone who tries to make sense of a child’s death by publicly advocating for changes to the legal...

Funny how when women raise economic issues that have nothing to do with abortion, it still ends up being about abortion. Readers, gather ’round for a sad, sad story. The Governor of New York introduced a bill designed to promote women’s security in and out of the workplace called the Women’s Equality Agenda. It actually contained 10 separate proposals, but was treated as a single bill. It tightened up the state’s laws for pay equality and workplace discrimination. It improved remedies for discrimination in employment, credit and lending litigation. It protected human trafficking victims, and...

Those smart and savvy moms at A Better Balance have written a book that will be your “go to guide” for workplace policies relevant to your pregnancy, maternity leave, and working life as a parent. Dina Bakst, Phoebe Taubman and Elizabeth Gedmark are the authors of Babygate: What You Really Need To Know About Pregnancy and Parenting in the American Workplace . The book is available now. As you travel the barren wilderness of U.S. family policy, you’ll be referring to it again and again. It’s also perfect for book groups or discussion circles – and you can find questions designed by the authors...

Child care used to be a family matter, taken up household by household, depending on a variety of circumstances. But times have changed and child care now moves appropriately to the public policy realm. The experts at the Center for American Progress look at three available child care options – a stay at home parent, privately paid for, or subsidized with public funds, in The Importance of Pre-School and Child Care for Working Mothers . Below is an excerpt from their brief, focusing on the consequences of having one parent provide the needed child care. Fifty years ago, suggesting that one...