I wrote this piece for The Shriver Report, where it appeared originally on April 7, 2014. One of the biggest stories of the past 50 years has been the movement of women into the paid workforce in unprecedented numbers. The income mothers and wives bring home has changed how we live, what we buy, and [...]
Archive | Economy and Mothers RSS feed for this section
The Economics of Midlife Motherhood (Part II)
In Part I of this guest post by Cyma Shapiro, we explored the fundamental economics of choosing midlife mothering. Here, we listen to experts and midlife mothers weigh-in on this increasingly prevalent life choice. You can pop back to Part I of this post, if you wish, to refresh your recollection before moving on to Part [...]
Phone Call for YOU!
Big doins’ this week! We’re all getting on the horn to talk about women in the US, how to get to fair pay, why families need a paid leave program they can count on, and what paid sick days would mean for the economic security of moms and dads. Just like child care, these issues [...]
The Peril of Working While Pregnant
Peggy Young (no relation) had been a UPS employee for about a decade when she got pregnant. Like most of us, she assumed there’d be no problem at work. Her pregnancy was in no way unusual. Everybody knew you couldn’t discriminate against pregnant workers. We had the protection of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which had been [...]
What the Government Shutdown Does to Women
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, [...]
Women In, Then Out, of Business
I’m going to be talking to a roomful of women getting their MBA’s this week, and I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of good news for them. True, they are in an elite group of about the one-third of Americans with undergraduate degrees. They will outnumber their male counterparts when they receive their masters [...]
Guest Post : Mothers Out of Options, Not “Opting Out”
I came across this fabulous opinion piece by Sarah Kendzior, a St. Louis-based writer on the Al Jazeera site. She graciously allowed me to repost it here in full - it is THAT good. You can see it at its original home right here. Thanks, Sarah! “The choice that is not really a choice” is one [...]
Why Women Are More Likely To Be Poor
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 [...]
Happy Birthday to the Family Medical Leave Act!
Wonky Washington is making merry about the 20th anniversary of President Clinton’s signing of the Family Medical Leave. This was the federal law that required some employers to allow some employees to take up to 12 weeks away from work, without pay, to deal with the birth or adoption of a child, a family member’s serious [...]
Keeping A-”Breast” of the New Health Care Law
A big change in public policy could bring mothers and their new babies much closer from now on. As of January 1, a provision of the Affordable Care Act, the health reform legislation passed by Congress in 2010, now requires that health insurers cover the cost of breast pumps and lactation services for new moms. Before [...]
Mothers Book Bag on Goodreads.com
Join our virtual book club for those concerned with issues of equity in employment and economic s...
Books we've read
View this group on Goodreads »