Sunday News Update: September 28, 2014

Posted on September 28, 2014 by CNF • Posted in General • Tagged Emily Watson, Mom-mentum, NAMC, news, public policy, Valerie Young, women and policy • Leave a comment

Welcome to Brain, Child’s Sunday policy update where we look at issues impacting women and children with Valerie Young, Public Policy Analyst for Mom-mentum formerly National Association of Mothers’ Centers.

With mid-term elections now on the horizon, the members of Congress have scampered home to look after their seats. Your (Wo)Man in Washington is still at her post, however, and sends us this summary of weekly highlights.

We haven’t seen this before – the US Department of Labor is promoting paid leave with this video, comparing Germany’s 14 weeks of maternity leave to the US’s 0 weeks. Because a national standard is such a heavy lift in this country, the DOL’s Women’s Bureau is also channeling big money to 3 states and the District of Columbia to fund feasibility studies for state-wide paid leave programs. Labor Secretary Tom Perez says “We need to do more to give people the tools to be responsible employees and good caregivers, so they don’t have to choose between the families they love and the jobs and economic security they need.” It’s a start.

Are women’s magazine waking up? (We know Brain, Child has always been awake: ) See what you make of some of these issues covered in mainstream women’s magazines this week: Elle just posted Why Women’s Role in Politics Is More Important Than Ever. Glamour has come out with Motherhood, Penalty Begone and Vanity Fair invites you to Watch Emma Watson Deliver a Game-Changing Speech on Feminism at the U.N. Maybe there IS more to life than a model search of Fall’s “must have” accessories.

There may be more to the pay gap than what happens at work. In fact, the disparity may start much, much earlier, according to the New York Times Motherlode blog, and parents could be implicated. “While it’s true that plenty of discrimination exists in the workplace, the way we rear our daughters probably contributes something to the persistent wage gap that exists among adults.” Something to think about.

Follow Valerie on Facebook at Your (Wo)Man in Washington, and on Twitter @WomanInDC. Valerie went to a feminist conference in New York City last weekend. See her thoughts at Mom-mentum’s Your Woman in Washington blog.

Sunday News Update: August 10, 2014

Posted on August 10, 2014 by CNF • Posted in General • Tagged NAMC, National Association of Mothers Centers, news, politics, The Hill, Valerie Young • Leave a comment

By Valerie Young

Welcome to Brain, Child’s Sunday wrap up of policy issues impacting women and children with Valerie Young of the National Association of Mothers’ Centers.

Think we are gaining ground in the effort to remove the barriers between motherhood and equitable treatment at work? Bad news: The Wage Penalty For Becoming A Mother Is The Same Now As It Was In 1977.

“According to a new report from the Council on Contemporary Families, since 2006, more people have been letting go of traditional attitudes toward gender roles—where the mom is expected to stay home while the dad works—and are viewing moms who work outside the home and participate in politics more favorably.” Now if we could turn that approval into some paid family leave, so that all working people can deal with life’s normal complications and support their families financially too, we’d be golden.

Who takes the big hit for having kids? Moms do, according to US News & World Report, because the way we do work in this country makes it an all or nothing proposition. “Professional women often end up opting out because it simply feels impossible to take care of both family and work responsibilities,” Lovejoy says. “The decision was often unexpected and unplanned,” she explains. When Stone and Lovejoy followed up on these opt-out women 10 years later, they found two-thirds of the women had returned to work, but to different types of work that offered greater flexibility – and lower pay.”

State legislators in New Jersey can’t deliver paid sick days – so advocates will make it happen city by city. Organizers are collecting signatures to get the issue on the ballot in November, according to the New York Times.

Valerie Young writes about news at the intersection of motherhood and public policy. Follow her on Facebook at Your (Wo)Man in Washington, and on Twitter @WomanInDC, and find a weekly blog post at WomanInWashington.org.

Sunday Night News Update: July 27, 2014

Posted on July 27, 2014 by CNF • Posted in General • Tagged mothers, NAMC, National Association of Mothers Centers, news, politics, Valerie Young, women in policy • Leave a comment

Welcome to Brain, Child’s Sunday night news update where we look at policy issues impacting women and children with Valerie Young of the National Association of Mothers’ Centers.

With Congress half out the door on the way to their August vacation, two bills were dropped in the hopper that could make life better for moms. The Schedules That Work Act would require employers of part-time workers to give more notice of shift schedules and assignments so that workers could plan accordingly. Much of the part-time workforce is mothers, as noted by Senator Elizabeth Warren in this article from The Guardian: “A single mom working two jobs should know if her hours are being canceled before she arranges for daycare and drives halfway across town to show up at work…This is about some basic fairness in work scheduling so that both employees and employers have more certainty and can get the job done.” Amen, sister!

Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Senator Angus King of Maine get a cheer for introducing a bill that would give a tax credit to employers offering at least four weeks of paid family leave. It’s called the Strong Families Act, and will likely go nowhere with the recess coming up and the mid-term elections getting all the attention once our do-nothing Congress reconvenes in September. But it is an effort to deal with the fact that ONLY the US has no guaranteed paid time off for maternity or paternity leave. In the 21st century. With women half the labor force. Sheesh.

Most states have some sort of laws on the books protecting pregnant or breastfeeding workers. Does yours? Here is a handy resource from your friends US Department of Labor. Just click on your state on the map and see what rights you have. Pregnancy discrimination runs rampant, and employers often fail to provide new moms what’s required, because we aren’t aware of and don’t ask for what the law allows. Don’t suffer endlessly. Know your rights.

Some parting thoughts on issues that often concern women with children who work – How do I tell my boss I’m Pregnant? Not an endorsement, just one person’s experience, from GoGirl Finance, as well as a series of articles on negotiating your salary, and three important tips to keep in mind when discussing your worth, from the same site.

Sunday News Update: July 13, 2014

Posted on July 13, 2014 by CNF • Posted in General • Tagged NAMC, Valerie Young, Women in Washington • Leave a comment

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.

Frankly, after such a busy week on the motherhood-and-politics front, we could certainly use some down time at the beach or star gazing on a quiet night. Sigh. Not likely. Here’s how it all played out:

Right before July 4th, the US Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Hobby Lobby case, relieving a for profit corporate employer from following certain provisions of the health reform law regarding contraception because of religious beliefs.

This past week, Democrats in both the House and Senate introduced a bill to counter that decision, called the Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act of 2014. The bill states: “The purpose of this Act is to ensure that employers that provide health benefits to their employees cannot deny any specific health benefits, including contraception coverage, to any of their employees or the covered dependents of such employees entitled by Federal law to receive such coverage.”

Also in the bill dropping department, US Rep. Nita Lowey of New York introduced legislation to credit the Social Security accounts of family caregivers with a modest income for a limited number of years that they spend raising children, caring for aging parents, or ill or disabled family members, instead of paid employment. You can listen to a 30 minute recording of a tele town hall Rep. Lowey held on Tuesday night to get the details.

Minnesota passed a law to prevent the shackling of women in prison when they give birth as reported in RH Reality Check. Unbelievably, shackling during labor continues in 30 other states. “Additionally, the shackling ban makes Minnesota the 20th state with such a ban on the books. But many states still allow the shackling of pregnant women, including during labor. The American Medical Association has called the practice of shackling women during childbirth “barbaric” and “medically hazardous.”‘ And still it occurs…

Not one but TWO articles this week on the “valuable, difficult and irreplaceable” work of the “housewife,” one in Dame Magazine and another at Slate.com, which notes that “it’s really difficult to have two working parents with full-time jobs, because home life requires a lot of necessary man-hours and a huge emotional investment, too.”

Valerie Young writes about news at the intersection of motherhood and public policy. Follow her on Facebook at Your (Wo)Man in Washington, and on Twitter @WomanInDC, and find a weekly blog post at WomanInWashington.org.

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