In this incisive talk, Jessica Shortall makes the impassioned case that the reality of new working motherhood in America is both hidden and horrible: millions of women, every year, are forced back to work within just weeks of giving birth.
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From TED.com and TEDxSMU
We need women to work, and we need working women to have babies. So why is America one of the only countries in the world that offers no national paid leave to new working mothers? In this incisive talk, Jessica Shortall makes the impassioned case that the reality of new working motherhood in America is both hidden and horrible: millions of women, every year, are forced back to work within just weeks of giving birth.
Her idea worth spreading: the time has come for us to recognize the economic, physical and psychological costs of our approach to working mothers and their babies, and to secure our economic future by providing paid leave to all working parents.
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I remember years ago, many years ago a feminist was talking about this. She said something to the effect that the movement was supportive of women who were were making a “choice” to go into the business world and that it was not intended that women choose BOTH parenting AND career. It was meant for women to make a choice and not do both. Sadly that changed, women were told that their value was less if they were a stay at home mom and accordingly pushed women into business careers too. “Latchkey kids” became the norm with these families. Day… Read more »
Well, before we go on about the “horrible” ordeal of women who chose career having to go back to work, maybe we think about that pesky non-issue of father’s being jacked out of their children’s lives, no parental leave for those with kids, the male death rate, suicide rate (most of whom happen to be someone’s father), and about, I dunno, a hundred other issues of sexism and discrimination? No? more important things to think about, like enhancing the already unbalanced maternity leave? Sort of reminds me of the millions spent on examining how women’s toe nails handle extreme aging… Read more »
Amen brother.