The Politics of Motherhood

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.momsrising.org/blog/the-politics-of-motherhood/

The fact is, working mothers, or at least those with limited education and lower-end jobs, have almost no employee benefits that allow time away from work when their children are sick or even when they give birth. Many of these moms have to work — with more than 6 out of 10 families relying on women to bring in at least one-quarter of the family income.

This disparity between highly-educated and economically secure mothers and those with less education and income is striking, as I testified at the hearing, pointing out that college-educated workers are far more likely to have access to paid maternity leave than workers with a high school degree or less.

<snip>

According to an analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau, from 1961 to 1965, only 14 percent of college-educated women workers received paid leave before or after the birth of their first child. The number jumped to 59 percent in the immediate period after passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and held at 66 percent in 2008.

<snip>

Compare that with less-educated workers: The law has made little difference to them because they are less likely to have access to paid sick days or paid short-term disability. For workers with less than a high school degree, access to paid leave after child birth remained nearly constant from 1961 to 2008 at about 18 percent — yes, 18 percent — less than one for every four college-educated workers with paid maternity leave.

[tech_smythe]

1. Stay-at-home parents should get Social Security credits as if they made $100k

Pure and simple.
every time they do a breakdown of what jobs a mother does, and compares it to the open market, it always eds up to about 100,000 dollars a year, or so.
IMHO Stay at home parents should get credit towards retirement.
After all they're raising our G/D future!!!

Of course I would also over-fund schools, science programs, and barely-fund the pentagon

on Edit, I also think stay-at-home parents should get assistance from the government. It is kind of a wash between supplementing day care and simply allowing one to stay home and care for their kids.

[Tumbulu]

2. I agree - well said! (nt)

[Starry Messenger]

4. I hope you'll pass those thoughts on to your Group cohort:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=689312

[FirstLight]

3. I haven't been able to hold a steady job since

...2004?...maybe sooner, like 2001?
My kid gets sick, and there's no such thing as sick child care... I have 3 kids, so they will cycle through an illness and even drag me into it sometimes, that's WEEKS away from work...
Instead i take what freelancing work i can and rely on food stamps to make up the difference, it isn't easy and we are definitely in poverty...BUT I am home when they get off the bus and there for them if they have to go to the doctor or something. (since my daughter has a medical issue, we need to have tests done 1-2x per year in the big city, more often as she approaches puberty) I wish we could have more and do more like other families...we have never been on a real vacation or gone to an amusement park...but we get lots of enjoyment out of our natural surroundings so hopefully they will turn out okay...

[REP]

5. Working WOMEN with limited education and low-end jobs have few employee benefits

Getting pregnant doesn't make a shitty job less shitty. If anything, it probably makes it worse. These types of jobs for women with little education suck for ALL women, regardless of their reproductive status.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Germany and France do a WAY better job of helping women, parents, families & babies

I mean, from a holistic, societal perspective it makes WAY more sense to help workers have more time with their babies before they go back to work. Of course, it makes way more sense to have universal, single payer health care, as well.

We don't always do what makes the most sense.

[TBF]

7. Even though it's a little easier when you have a degree

it is still not ideal.

My husband and I met and married while we were both completing grad school (law school in his case). We knew we'd have income upon graduating, but also heavy student loans payments. We had our first baby the same month we both graduated. I went back to work immediately since he was doing a clerkship the first year and that's when I started seeing what it would be like to juggle a professional job (or any job for that matter) with having a baby. Babies get sick (especially in daycare), they get their parents sick, and then heaven help you if you have another one. After juggling, being laid off (which I had never experienced prior to childbirth - I actually had a pretty high income before marrying), and getting pregnant with the second baby I gave up and decided to stay home. My husband has much higher income potential especially given the fact that I now have another unrelated health issue.

For us it hasn't been as bad as some for sure. We still struggle with debt and worry about only having one income, but some things are easier than when both parents work. We can schedule a vacation because we only have one office to check with. Our kids can stay home and rest when they are sick - and they can have activities after school because someone is home to drive them around.

My mom has cautioned me though that I really should try to go back to work doing something or other to make sure I have paid in enough to Social Security. She worries that if something would happen to my husband they would only look at the years I worked and it might not be as advantageous as if I kept working. My husband and I have invested in more life insurance as a result of thinking about that kind of scenario ... another expense we could have done without but feel like we need to have given our reality.

Agree that it would be really nice for both men and women to have more support in this area. My husband didn't dare take much paternity leave (his company has it but it's frowned upon off the record), and I can only imagine what single mothers go through if it is this difficult for a couple who has advanced degrees and a pretty good income.