From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Unlike the rest of the world, the U.S. does not guarantee mothers and fathers paid time off from work when a baby is born or a child is adopted. This comes as a total shock and surprise to many. Some people, especially professionals and those at large companies, will be offered a certain number of weeks with some pay. However, this benefit is entirely at the employer's discretion. The U.S. Congress did pass the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 1993, but it only applies to certain...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Women's History Month has drawn to a close, but there's time to sneak in a few comments. In recent weeks, two notable women have died. Elizabeth Taylor left as her legacy decades of activism and outspoken advocacy, saying what many in politics were too afraid to say about HIV/AIDS. Geraldine Ferraro left a marker for women's political participation. For many, her passing provokes dismay and despair that a woman still has not been elected President. Both of them made us see the world...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Opponents of paid family leave object to its expense and its tedious implementation. They may grudgingly agree that yeah, it would be nice, but insist we just can't afford it. This argument has been made so loudly for so long it has lodged into the public consciousness. Paid family leave is seen as a perk, a benefit, something extra that some lucky professionals at the upper reaches of the income scale may get, but nothing that a typical worker has a right to. Surprisingly, this really...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org March 8 was the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, when our social, political, and economic progress is celebrated all over the world. Truly, our achievements are significant, and we owe the potential of our lives to many committed and visionary women of the past. And yet...women's lack of full, equal engagement in all aspects of society continues to weigh us down, and limit the realization of hopes for our families, our children, and ourselves. Last week the White House...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Valentine's Day ushers in the most unromantic topic of the federal budget this year, and President Obama's proposed spending plan has now been unveiled. Much wrangling and intense debate is surely in store, and it's anybody's guess what the final product will be. Your (Wo)Man in Washington flips straight to the summary of expenditures pertaining to women and girls to see what's on the presidential priority list for the current fiscal year. Here's a quick list of some high points for...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Womens Enews reports that maternity wards and obstetric units are closing across the country. Depending on where you live, and whether or not you have health insurance, you could be far away from the medical care you need. The number of babies born in the US has remained stable, at just over 4 million a year. But 1.3 million women joined the number of uninsured between 2008 and 2009. Now 22% of all women of child-bearing age are uninsured. Medicaid covers 15% of them. But the Medicaid...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org One factor limiting women's economic security is the approach to part-time work in the US. It has the reputation of being poorly paid (true), mostly done by students, (false), and performed by those who don't really depend upon the income (also false). Part-time workers do not receive the protections of numerous state and federal laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, nor do part-time jobs generally come with benefits like paid leave or vacations, health insurance, or retirement...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Your (Wo)man in Washington Guest Post - by Mindy Fried I came across this essay by sociologist Mindy Fried about the lack of paid family leave in the US versus how common it is around the world. Also on my mind is the failure of the Paycheck Fairness Act to pass the US Senate this week. I think the two are related. Opponents of the bill say gender discrimination doesn't exist anymore, and no new laws, like the Paycheck Fairness Act, are needed. They argue that even though men outearn...

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org I was at Rutgers University on October 19th for the "What Mothers Want" conference and it was a mamapalooza of the first order. It'd be hard to say who was the more interesting - the experts and advocates at the mic or the totally engaged and informed audience. Everybody knew motherwork was hard, vital, and made unnecessarily more difficult by the way work and family life are currently structured. Research presented let us listen to the opinions of thousands of mothers as they...