I suspect that one reason the U.S. has made so little progress towards pro-caregiver policies is that women figure once the children grow up and go to school, the work/family conundrum will sort itself out. We may have a few rough years of living on just one income, or being uncomfortably stretched by the high cost of child care, but sooner or later we won’t have to worry about competing demands for our time and attention. When you could really have used a paid parental leave policy, when your children are babies, you’re too busy caring for them to agitate for it. When some small slice of...

“ It’s the moms who always have to work a little harder to make everything right.” Ann Romney , GOP Convention, August 28, 2012 Of course, Mrs. Romney is exactly right about that and we appreciate the shout-out. But it’s going to take a whole lot more than a stronger economy to do right by moms. Lowering the unemployment rate ain’t even the half of it. The GOP platform calls for ”smaller government,” less state and federal regulation, and lower taxes. It might be a feasible plan for a woman who is economically dependent on a well-employed man, or even a very rich man, like Ann Romney. But how...

Mothers are so busy managing the here and now that thinking about retirement rarely rises to the top of the “To Do” list. Women’s advocates here in Washington, D.C. are pushing a proposal that would strengthen Social Security for women, especially those who have spent years in the unpaid labor of caregiving, and/or been hit by the lower pay in female-dominated job sectors. Women’s Enews reports : Because women earn lower wages and take time out of the work force for caregiving, they receive smaller Social Security checks than do male workers. In 2009, the average annual Social Security income...

What if somebody told you that you were an investor in the most valuable commodity in the whole world? What if, every day for two decades or more, you made a small but significant contribution into the most promising enterprise available; in fact, the single asset on which all other profits would depend? Would you think of yourself as shrewd venture capitalist? Would you feel wealthy? Would you expect a solid return on the discipline and dedication of your regular investment? Well, prepare yourself for a shock. If you are a parent, you are that investor. The most valuable commodity in the...

Some bits of news to slip in before the long holiday weekend , when you’ll surrender to the seductive aroma of the grill and a tall glass of your favorite iced beverage with sunscreen at the ready. Ahhh. Social scientists have documented men moving into traditionally “pink collar” jobs like nursing and teaching. The pace has accelerated since the recession started, and it is not clear if men will flee primarily female job sectors when employment improves and more jobs become available. Some men report that family obligations played a role in their decision, and the trend is seen across all...

What would it take to make a country where mothers could bear and raise children in the best possible circumstances? How would such a place look? Would it look like the United States? Thanks to Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers Index for 2012 , we already know a great deal about the building blocks for a pro-mother, pro-child society. The best place to be a mother is one where women would be educated, share political power, and have access to good health care and nutrition. Their incomes would be on a par with men’s. They would not get pregnant until they reached adulthood, and...

Hot off the presses – a new report finds access to paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child reduces the likelihood that a family will be forced to resort to public support or food stamps. Rutgers University and the National Partnership for Women & Families have analyzed data in the five U.S. states with paid family leave to examine the results when public policy, and not the whim of individual employers, promotes family economic security, better health for parents and babies and maintains parents’ earning potential. In today’s economic turbulence, such a program also bolsters...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org While I hunted for those last elusive hidden eggs, writer and end-of-life issues expert Janice Lynch Schuster graciously permitted me to cross post her thoughtful piece about Bruce, Clarence, aging and care. It originally appeared on the Disruptive Women in Health Care blog . When Clarence Clemons died last spring, the air went out of the room. As his longtime musical partner and friend, Bruce Springsteen, told Rolling Stone a few weeks ago, Clarence was as “elemental as rain,” and...

(Would you, could you, vote for me? Inching my way up the rankings in Circle of Mom’s Top 25 Political Mom Blogs . Thanks! We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post….) Women now navigating the vast ocean of motherhood were likely born decades after the women’s liberation movement of the 1960′s and 70′s. Many mothers with academic degrees and work experience already on the resumé may assume that women have substantially achieved equality. Perhaps they have not thought much about feminism, or about legislation, or any form of political expression pressing for change in the status...