Sunday Night News: June 22, 2014
Welcome to Brain, Child’s Sunday night news update where we look at issues impacting women and children. Tonight we hear from Your (Wo)Man in Washington, Valerie Young of the National Association of Mothers’ Centers:
THESE GIRLS GOT GAME The sixth annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game saw Rep. Gabby Giffords throw out the first pitch, and the MOC (members of Congress) beat the Bad News Babes, female reporters from CNN, Politico, Roll Call and the like, who cover them. HuffPo was in the press box, and has video highlights from the game. Even better than that is the ‘trash talk’ video preceding the event, which is hilarious.
Sarah Jane Glynn of the Center for American Progress has updated the work of economist Heather Boushey and released Breadwinning Mothers, Then and Now, about the consequences of mothers’ roles as provider of household income as well as unpaid domestic labor.”The days of the full-time, stay-at-home mom are long in the past for most families, and there is no indication that patterns will revert back to those of the 1960s. The fact that so many women are economically responsible for themselves and their families shows how far women have come in terms of education, career advancement, and their own economic independence. But we still have a long way to go.”
Father’s Day unleashed a torrent of fabulous father-centered press. One aspect worth thinking about – mothers’ will always be doing a disproportionate share of unpaid family carework, to their economic peril, if dads aren’t utilizing pro-family workplace policies, like actually taking paid paternity leave (if you live anywhere else than the US, where it is generally available). From our friends ‘Down Under” at Women’s Agenda: “This is where the workplace dynamic becomes relevant. If an employer isn’t willing to accommodate a father’s request for parental leave, are they likely to accommodate him dropping his kids at school, working part-time or taking carers leave to look after his kids if they’re sick?” Hmmm…
A Tedx Talk about a maternal meltdown may not sound like a good time – but trust me, this one is GREAT. Katrina Alcorn, who brought you Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink, has 16 minutes of wonderful right here, in Maxed Out: Changing the Conversation about Women and Work. From “a tiramisu of stress” to “a hospital fantasy” to “velour pappa”, Katrina charts a course for truly valuing families.
Valerie Young writes about news at the intersection of motherhood and public policy, sign up for her every-other-week issues at: NAMC Advocacy eNews.
