Motherhood does not put food on the table or provide healthcare to children. A job is something a person does regularly to earn money and benefits. It has a start and stop time. Motherhood never stops – not even when the child turns 18. It is a lifelong responsibility deserving respect, but it should not be labeled a job. Jobs for women, not only provide food and healthcare for children, it allows us to raise more successful girls and caring boys. Per the Department of Labor 70% of women with children under the age of 18 participate in the workforce, 25% of households are maintained by unmarried mothers and we now exceed men in college attainment.
The princess in the ivory tower is not a reality. Most of us do not have husbands and fathers that support us. In fact, we often support them. In the world, we live in, the option to stay at home is not available. Women need a job that provides pay and benefits—not a “mommy tax”. Providing maternity leave for women only puts us back in 1980, where women both “brought home the bacon and fried it up in the pan”. We are not 24-hour woman. We need real help. Sole responsibility for the family falls on women’s shoulders based on Trumps proposal for maternity leave and men are out of the family equation all together. Not to mention, for many rural women this could prevent them from getting a job. Quite frankly, why would a company hire a woman, when a man is so much cheaper? And if they do hire a woman, why not lower her salary to cover the expected expense?
We are better off with the free market determining policies that support families. Companies like Comcast, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company and many others are leading the way with paternity leave. They understand what it takes to attract talent to their organizations, their role in creating a level playing field and how to advance strategic initiatives through diversity. According to the 2016 Global Parent Leave report by Mercer, 29% of companies with a global policy cover all four types of leave – maternity, paternity, adoption and parental. As these companies become more successful, others will follow.
The few places Trump is willing to regulate is where women are concerned. Paternalistic policies are not what we need. Why waste the time, when the market is already leading the way on women’s rights? Why would we listen to a man that called “pregnancy an inconvenience for employers” in 2004? We don’t need men to prescribe policies for us, we need them to step up to the plate and take on family responsibilities. Let your representatives in Congress know that if this policy does not include paternity leave, it is useless for the American family and the advancement of women in their careers.
Even if paternity leave is included it does not help rural women with jobs, it does not provide pay equity and it does not help women to break the glass ceiling. I would love to hear your solutions to gender equity and what would help you to support your family.
And just a final thought… what would happen if that 70% of women with children under 18 walked out of work for the day and didn’t purchase anything?
Career Solutions by Valerie 