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Advocacy

Motherhood is hard, and it is made much harder than it has to be by our outdated public policies.

Our laws and institutions place a penalty on motherhood, for family caregivers at home and in the paid workforce. Raising our children is a labor of love that also benefits our communities and our country. Without the care that takes place in families, no economy or society can function.

Mothers can change attitudes and outcomes by advocating for policies that promote family economic security and the well-being of family caregivers. Right here is where that happens.

Motherhood is now the single greatest risk factor
for poverty among American women.
~ Ann Crittenden
Author of The Price of Motherhood

 

Why Advocate?

  • We must insist on policies that reflect our current reality: people must care for their families (children and elderly) while earning a living. Society could not function without this caring work, and much of that work is done by women and mothers.
  • Our economic well-being as mothers and family caregivers, our families' well-being, and the economic security of our nation's future are at stake.
  • In spite of its status as the only remaining super power with the largest national economy, the US has a very high rate of maternal and child poverty compared to other countries in the world.
  • Millions of mothers remain economic dependents, despite the fact they produce the most important source of national wealth - our future citizens, taxpayers, and labor force.

What We Provide

Information and action steps for those of us who care for family members. We provide ways for you to learn, to be inspired, and to actively participate in the growing national Mothers' Movement by making our voices heard.
A voice in public policy discussions both in DC and on the internet. NAMC's Advocacy Coordinator, Valerie Young, listens and speaks with mothers' and families' well-being in mind. Valerie's blog Your (Wo)man In Washington provides you with analysis on what's happening and the possibilities for change.
An advocacy enews with important and relevant information on policy discussions in DC and throughout the country. Get a better grasp on the issues and their potential impact on you and your family (subscribe here)
An Economic Empowerment Agenda that is a blueprint for how things could be and one day WILL be with your help. This agenda is based on the NAMC's Mothers' Declaration of Rights which describes a world that's good for mothers, and therefore good for children and good for families.

Connection to our partners and resources.

How To Advocate

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Mother's Day Actions

Did you know that Mother's Day founder Anna Jarvis intended the second Sunday in May to be a day when families worked together to better their communities? We call for a return to the activist roots of Mother's Day! So each year, in celebration of Mother’s Day, the mother of MOTHERS design an action aimed at raising an issue, clarifying an issue, working for change and raising the concerns and voices of mothers. Join us each year.

Mother's Day 2009
Mother’s Day originated as mothers' day, a celebration of mothers’ moral concerns beyond the home, especially their civic roles and services to the nation, rather than their private roles and personal services to the family.

In that tradition, for 7 years NAMC has used Mother’s Day to bring attention to a multitude of issues that affect family caregivers. This year we’re proud to present Mile for Mothers - May 2009 - Value Children?... Cherish Mothers! In our society mothering is one of the least supported jobs around. Why do so many more women live in poverty then men? The answer - motherhood.

Show solidarity with mothers around the world as we join  with other members of the global Mothers Center International Network for Empowerment (MINE) in promoting and sponsoring "Mile for Mothers" events in the USA.  The slogan for the walks in the USA will be “Value Children?... Cherish Mothers!”.  We all know how important our mothering work is. Here at NAMC we are working very hard to have policy makers acknowledge the value of that work by making the needs of mothers and families a real priority.

Learn more about our Mile for Mothers annual event.

Our History

On September 20-22, 2002, a group of women came together to birth the MOTHERS movement. The first MOTHERS Leadership Retreat was held at Woodhull Institute in Ancramdale, NY. These women have been working in other organizations for many years on women's, mothers' and caregivers' issues. They joined forces as a grassroots coalition to create a strong, common voice to the critical need for economic security and political clout for mothers and other caregivers.

We are the ones we've been waiting for... and this is just the beginning!

The 1st MOTHERS Leadership Retreat
1st row: Kim Foglia (National Association of Mothers' Centers), Livia Polise, Delacey Skinner, Wyndi Anderson (Advocates for Pregnant Women), Ludy Green (Second Chance Employment Services) Lori Rappa-Rodriguez (NAMC), Angela Bradley, Pat Reuss (NOW), Rosanne Weston (NAMC), Julia Bellinger

2nd row: Margaret McLaughlin (Mothers and More), Nora Bredes (Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Leadership), Ann Crittenden (founder, MOTHERS), Lori Slepian (founder, NAMC), Rhonda Kave (NAMC), Theresa Funicello (Caregiver Credit Campaign)

3rd row: Linda Juergens (NAMC), Sharon Hoahing (Women on the Job), Valerie Young (Lawyers at Home)

About the Founder

An award-winning journalist and author, Ann Crittenden was a reporter for The New York Times from 1975 to 1983, where she wrote on a broad range of economic issues, initiated numerous investigative reports, and authored a series on world hunger that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She was also a financial writer and foreign correspondent for Newsweek, a reporter for Fortune, a visiting lecturer at MIT and Yale, an occasional commentator for CBS News, and executive director of the Fund for Investigative Journalism in Washington, D.C.

Best known for her 2001 National Bestseller "The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued", her other books include "If You've Raised Kids, You can Manage Anything", "Sanctuary: A Story of American Conscience and the Law in Collision", which was a New York Times Notable Book in 1988, and "Killing the Sacred Cows: Bold Ideas for a New Economy". Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Foreign Affairs, and Barron's among others.

Ms. Crittenden has a BA from Southern Methodist University, a Masters Degree from Columbia University School of International Affairs, and an "all-but-dissertation" in modern European history from Columbia. She has moderated a lecture series on economics at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and directed a seminar on the global economy for the Aspen Institute. She has spoken before a wide range of groups, including the New York Venture Capital Association and the World Affairs Council of San Francisco. She has served a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the board of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Ms. Crittenden lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.