When I was pregnant with my first child my husband and I were a dual career couple. Two weeks into motherhood, my boss called me at home. The company had eliminated 30% of its local jobs and I had been laid off. “But I’m on maternity leave,” I stammered in protest, trying to understand how this was possible. My boss stoically informed me that though the company could not give my job to someone else while I was on family medical leave, they could legally eliminate my position entirely, even though I was on federally protected family leave. Still gasping for air as the news sank in, I thought,...

I don’t have to look very far to find caregivers who are giving so much to others that they’re beginning to feel as though they have nothing left for themselves: A colleague of mine appears overwhelmed form working two jobs. A teacher is charged with managing a classroom full of rowdy kids all day while coping internally with the stress that he won’t have a job next year due to budget cuts. There there are the numerous aging women in my life who are caring for their elderly family members. Many of them experienced only a brief pause between raising their own children before the senior...

Wednesday, February 16th. 8:30am I make my daily run to drop my kids off at school and daycare. 9:10am I arrive at my office and check email. I find a personal email from national journalist David Brancaccio from PBS. We met a couple years ago when he interviewed me for a piece he did on MomsRising and on the economic issues affecting mothers. He tells me he’s in Denver today covering the state budget crisis. Then he tells me, a Colorado citizen, that he’s sorry to hear about what’s taking place. What’s he talking about? I wonder, becoming concerned. But it’s time for my first meeting so I go...