Happy Mother's Day (belatedly)
Mother's Day has come and gone, but not the needs of working mothers--or, we should say, working families. Questions of sick leave, flexibility, fair pay, and mandatory overtime, and all the rest affect not just mothers but children, fathers, mothers, nieces, older people--really, everyone in the economy who has to care for, or be cared for, at any point in our lives. Which includes us all.
Here's my own experience with this: I am unspeakably grateful that while my father was dying this past year, my boss insisted that I take whatever time I needed, whenever I needed it, to fly to Florida to be with him. As a result I was there once a month in his final months, in the room with him during his last five days, held his hand while he literally gasped his last breath, and stayed with my stepmother and siblings while he was buried -- without worrying for a second about my paycheck, my amount of vacation or bereavement leave, or my annual review. I did not have to choose between caring for my family and keeping a roof over my head.
But too many people do, as Ellen Bravo notes in her op-ed this weekend in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The human condition can be painful enough without having to make such horrifying choices. How can it be that half of this nation's work force has no paid sick leave--the half that is least able to lose even an hour's wages? Flexible work hours, family leave, paid sick time: these are abstract wonky terms for treating each other with basic human decency. Ellen Bravo's mother's day wish list is really a wish list for humane working conditions. I urge you to read it.
Was Mother's Day late this year or did you mean belated happy Mother's Day
May 12, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the grammar check! Fixed it.
May 12, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Might be useful to point out that our fierce competitiveness, which does not allow for softy stuff like the French employment laws, has not prevented us from becoming more of a market for other countries to exploit, than an exporter of desired products.
I guess things could be worse, especially if we feel the need to chase China into slave labor and unregulated business.
May 12, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
So sorry to hear about your father, Thanks for another excellent post. It's as if American businesses are all run by unreformed Ebeneezer Scrooges.
May 12, 2008 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm so sorry about your father, E.J.
If American women knew that women in Canada and western Europe get between 17 weeks to two years' paid maternity leave (through unemployment insurance), they would be marching in the streets. Or at least they should be. It's insane that a country that claims to value "family" so highly makes it so difficult to have one.
American women have more children than women in those other countries, and start at a younger age. If it's better for women (and children, and families) to delay childbirth until they can support a family, wouldn't it make sense to tie paid mat leave to employment?
US corporations wouldn't fold up and die if they had to allow women to take mat leave. (Most women can't afford to take their current federal entitlement, 12 weeks of unpaid mat leave.) Rather, more mothers would return to their jobs once their children were old enough. We know that, because it's happened in other wealthy countries.
May 12, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Only in America is 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work considered an "entitlement."
May 12, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Destor, scofflaw, thank you for the kind words. Hope it makes clear why I was occasionally so cranky last year!
May 12, 2008 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cranky? Certainly never disagreeable and only seldomly wrong!
Post more, we miss you E.J.
May 12, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let’s pay tribute to our moms this Mother’s day. Mother's Day is rapidly approaching, and you really should get your mother a gift, or any woman you know that is a mother that happens to mean something to you is also eligible to get gifts on Mother's Day. However, just because you have to give someone a gift, doesn't mean you can't think about saving money. Not all meaningful gifts are expensive – despite what jewelry companies tell you. (They want your money. It's that simple.) For instance, cooking for people is a popular gift, and if you look around for coupons and recipes, you could cook something very nice for Mother's Day (maybe even a vegan recipe) without needing an online payday loan or breaking the bank.
May 12, 2009 6:54 AM | Reply | Permalink