Do you have kids? Are you married? Federal law prohibits employers from asking female job applicants these questions if they don't ask the same questions of men, or to make hiring decisions based on negative stereotypes about mothers... but IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME! Is it any wonder why children make up such a huge percentage of the people living in poverty in the US?
A friend just told me about a group called MomsRising.org (a sort of a spin-off of MoveOn.org). Their aim? To promote issues of concern to working families, like universal healthcare, a fair and living wage, flexible work options, after-school care for our kids – that sort of thing.
And they’re following the lead of MoveOn in organizing house parties to see their documentary, using the internet to drum up membership, on-line petitions and lobbying efforts on the local, state and national level. This is a movement that’s growing by leaps & bounds and they have their sights set on the 2008 elections.
Make the jump to learn more...
From an article in yesterday’s New York Times:
A generation of mothers who are largely perceived as post feminist in every way, from sex to economic discrimination, has begun a consciousness-raising that is almost old-fashioned were it not for the technology involved. Raised to believe that girls could accomplish anything, these women have reached parenthood, only to find they faced many of the same pay, equity and work-family balance issues that were being fought over decades before. From that awakening, they say, has come the inkling of a new movement.
In many ways, these groups are repackaging issues that have been around for nearly 50 years and have proven intractable despite the efforts of legions of activists, lawyers and elected officials.
But what MomsRising has done, the organizers say, is frame its concerns as family and economic issues, which resonate for a younger generation of women. (They say they will include the fathers later.)
I don’t know about you but I sure do fit that description. All my life I’ve heard that girls CAN do anything. Be anything. Shoot for the stars girl – this isn’t your mother’s America any more. They fought hard to make things better with the women’s lib. movement and all that great stuff... and this is what we get? You hit your thirties, settle down and have a couple kids and you’re back at the bottom, starting over. Or rougher still – you get knocked up, become a single parent and can’t find work because potential employers would rather go with a guy or a single gal. So here are a few facts to whet your whistle...
Did You Know...
Only four countries in the world—Lesotho, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the United States fail to provide paid maternity leave to all workers?
Mothers in the United States are only half as likely as non-mothers to be hired for the same job and the average college graduate who becomes a mother will sacrifice a million dollars over her lifetime?
Businesses that create flexible work environments find that productivity goes up, they attract more talent, turnover is reduced and their bottom line is improved?
I took the survey at the MomsRising site and when I clicked the submit button they asked me to help spread the word. So here it is folks – I’m spreading the word to 118,000+ of my best buddies here...
I hope you'll join me and tens of thousands of others in one of the most exciting grassroots movement on the Internet: MomsRising.org.
MomsRising.org is working to build a massive grassroots movement big enough to impact the outcome of the 2008 elections and beyond. The time has come to break the logjam that's been holding back family-friendly legislation for decades. It's going to take all of us--and then some--working together to get there.
MomsRising gives mothers, and all who have mothers, a voice in shaping the laws & policies that affect our lives. You can sign online petitions on timely issues like healthcare, flexible work options, paid family leave, childcare, living wages, and more, or you can just sign up to receive email alerts, all for free.
I hope you'll join us today at:
our sign up page.
The sooner people sign on with MomsRising.org, the sooner we'll all be able to promote key issues that have been languishing for too long. Families are struggling and we can change this. We can pass paid family leave; develop flexible work, great childcare, and after-school programs; and demand healthcare for all kids and living wages.
It's time to help children and families. It's time to build a truly family-friendly America. It takes just 30 seconds to sign on, but your impact goes on much longer than that 30 seconds.
This issues affecting families today are endless, from global warming, to funding for PBS / NPR and everything in between.
I get together with a bunch of girlfriends once a month for ladies movie night. It's my turn to host the next one and I'm planning on showing The Motherhood Manifesto - a one hour documentary put together by MomsRising. House parties like this are one of the many ways MomsRising is organizing around issues of concern to working families all around this land. I'm hoping it will help motiviate my friends and give us some ideas as to how we as a group can make a differnce in our lives and those of our kids.
This isn’t just about moms folks – but even if it were I would hope everyone would sign on to this effort as we all have or had a mom at one point in our lives. Many of you have wives - even daughters who will one day be mothers (more than likely). Do we change the world now? Or do we leave it for the next generation to deal with?
This is about making the world a better place for working families (right now), and the children who will inherit this world some day.