According to Moms First, moms make seventy five cents on the dollar compared to white fathers. And, while moms see less economic earning potential, they also have to do more of the care: Moms spend more time with their children than dads do – especially when their children are young. "Previous research has found that working mothers are more likely to carry greater household and caregiving loads, and many of the duties mothers take on in family life became even more difficult in the COVID-19 pandemic," according to PEW.
Not to mention that women in America are dying at a higher rate from pregnancy-related causes than in any other developed nation. And, Black women in America are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women, according to the White House. And, one in 5 women in America experience maternal mental health conditions like postpartum depression, anxiety, or substance use disorder.
"We have never truly supported mothers in this country, so when it comes to the policy changes that working moms need and deserve to thrive, it's quite frankly a very long list. If I could wave a magic wand and solve one thing, I would expand access to quality, affordable child care," shared Reshma Saujani, Founder & CEO of Moms First. "Moms can't work without child care, period. Despite the fact that every single one of us has child care needs, it's still treated like an individual problem that each of us has to solve and not as a societal problem. As a result, we're pushing women out of the workforce, which limits our choices and threatens our economic security, not to mention hurting the diversity and productivity of our businesses and the US economy as a whole. We've got to start treating women in the workforce as a must have, not as a nice to have, and that starts with child care."
According to a 2021 UNICEF study, America’s childcare policies rank 40th out of 41 wealthy countries, due to a lack of parental leave and dearth of quality, affordable childcare. In an article Reshma penned for the World Economic Forum, she noted that in " Nairobi, Kenya, where researchers offered vouchers for an improved-quality childcare centre to a control group of 850 mothers. These parents were 30% more likely to participate in the labour force, and earned 24% more than they did before participating in the study, without increasing the number of hours they worked. It’s not just Kenya; a randomized trial of 10,000 low-income families in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, revealed that access to a free childcare programme almost doubled mothers’ labour force participation, and increased family income by 16%."
Good child care is good for the economy.
"Having men have access to and take their full paternity leave all at once - hands down," shared Eve Rodsky, Author of Fair Play. "Once a male leader named Ed said to me “Eve you would be proud I am asking the men on my team if they are taking their paternity leave.” My response was “Ed the question isn’t IF it’s WHEN… when are you taking your paternity leave?”
In a Forbes article, Lisa Wirthman wrote that "Every month that fathers take paternity leave increases a mother’s income by 6.7 percent (more than she loses by taking leave herself), according to a study cited in the SOWF report."
Additionally, nearly half of U.S. fathers say they are not spending enough time with their children, compared to just 23 percent of mothers, according to the report. About two-thirds of fathers globally also say they would gladly work less in exchange for more time with their children if they had paternity leave.
But, only 17 percent of U.S. employers provide the benefit, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.
"Etsy has 6 months paid parental leave. It’s a policy fully supported by our culture. Our sellers (primarily women) do not have this option," Kim Seymour, shared Chief Human Resources Office at Etsy. This doesn't have to be the way.
Advocating for policy changes at the federal, state and local level and within your companies is essential to change the situation for working mothers everywhere. The biggest issues to address for moms right now surround:
One way to get involved is through MomCongress; another is through Moms First.
