I only partially consider myself a member of the population of working moms. I'm lucky enough to have a job that allows me a flexible schedule so my son never has to attend day care. My husband takes care of him while I'm at work, and then we switch off. I only went to my workplace 4 days a week, about 5 hours a day. Right now, I'm on a very short break between Spring and Summer session 1. Still, I'm pretty lucky that my needs were accomodated. When I was nursing, I had office hours and very short days. When I was pregnant, I organized my appointments around my work schedule. My boss was very kind to hold my place for the spring, and when I decided I wanted to come back earlier, he was able to give me some classes.
That all being said, most working women aren't so lucky. The link below takes you to the study that grades states on how they help working moms. The most interesting, but sadly not surprising, trend is that the states that preach the importance of "family values" and pro-life ideals generally have the worst grades. We live in an economy where to provide for our families, big or small, both parents generally need to work. If we want moms to do what is best for their children, we need to support them in the workplace.
The Study
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| Courtesy of Mother Jones magazine |
Something to think about.
- M. and E (who is a lucky little boy)
"The most interesting, but sadly not surprising, trend is that the states that preach the importance of "family values" and pro-life ideals generally have the worst grades."
ReplyDeleteThis x100. Stop trying to force women to not have a choice in getting pregnant (loaded statement but you know what I mean) if you're not going to take care of them once you deny them birth control and they end up pregnant.