QUOTE
The fact is, market fundamentalism--the irrational belief that markets solve all problems--has succeeded in dismantling federal regulations and services but has failed to answer the question, Who will care for America's children and elderly?
As a result, this country's family policies lag far behind those of the rest of the world. A just-released study by researchers at Harvard and McGill found that of 173 countries studied, 168 guarantee paid maternal leave--with the United States joining Lesotho and Swaziland among the laggards. At least 145 countries mandate paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses--but not the United States. One hundred thirty-four countries legislate a maximum length for the workweek; not us.
The media constantly reinforce the conventional wisdom that the care crisis is an individual problem. Books, magazines and newspapers offer American women an endless stream of advice about how to maintain their "balancing act," how to be better organized and more efficient or how to meditate, exercise and pamper themselves to relieve their mounting stress. Missing is the very pragmatic proposal that American society needs new policies that will restructure the workplace and reorganize family life.
Another slew of stories insist that there simply is no problem: Women have gained equality and passed into a postfeminist era. Such claims are hardly new. Ever since 1970 the mainstream media have been pronouncing the death of feminism and reporting that working women have returned home to care for their children. Now such stories describe, based on scraps of anecdotal data, how elite (predominantly white) women are "choosing" to "opt out," ditching their career opportunities in favor of home and children or to care for aging parents. In 2000 Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York, wearily responded to reporters, "I still meet people all the time who believe that the trend has turned, that more women are staying home with their kids, that there are going to be fewer dual-income families. But it's just not true."
Such contentious stories conveniently mask the reality that most women have to work, regardless of their preference. They also obscure the fact that an absence of quality, affordable childcare and flexible working hours, among other family-friendly policies, greatly contributes to women's so-called "choice" to stay at home.
In the past few years, a series of sensational stories have pitted stay-at-home mothers against "working women" in what the media coyly call the "mommy wars." When the New York Times ran a story on the controversy, one woman wrote the editor, "The word 'choice' has been used...as a euphemism for unpaid labor, with no job security, no health or vacation benefits and no retirement plans. No wonder men are not clamoring for this 'choice.' Many jobs in the workplace also involve drudgery, but do not leave one financially dependent on another person."
Most institutions, in fact, have not implemented policies that support family life. As a result, many women do feel compelled to choose between work and family. In Scandinavian countries, where laws provide for generous parental leave and subsidized childcare, women participate in the labor force at far greater rates than here--evidence that "opting out" is, more often than not, the result of a poverty of acceptable options.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/20...the_care_crisis
As a result, this country's family policies lag far behind those of the rest of the world. A just-released study by researchers at Harvard and McGill found that of 173 countries studied, 168 guarantee paid maternal leave--with the United States joining Lesotho and Swaziland among the laggards. At least 145 countries mandate paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses--but not the United States. One hundred thirty-four countries legislate a maximum length for the workweek; not us.
The media constantly reinforce the conventional wisdom that the care crisis is an individual problem. Books, magazines and newspapers offer American women an endless stream of advice about how to maintain their "balancing act," how to be better organized and more efficient or how to meditate, exercise and pamper themselves to relieve their mounting stress. Missing is the very pragmatic proposal that American society needs new policies that will restructure the workplace and reorganize family life.
Another slew of stories insist that there simply is no problem: Women have gained equality and passed into a postfeminist era. Such claims are hardly new. Ever since 1970 the mainstream media have been pronouncing the death of feminism and reporting that working women have returned home to care for their children. Now such stories describe, based on scraps of anecdotal data, how elite (predominantly white) women are "choosing" to "opt out," ditching their career opportunities in favor of home and children or to care for aging parents. In 2000 Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York, wearily responded to reporters, "I still meet people all the time who believe that the trend has turned, that more women are staying home with their kids, that there are going to be fewer dual-income families. But it's just not true."
Such contentious stories conveniently mask the reality that most women have to work, regardless of their preference. They also obscure the fact that an absence of quality, affordable childcare and flexible working hours, among other family-friendly policies, greatly contributes to women's so-called "choice" to stay at home.
In the past few years, a series of sensational stories have pitted stay-at-home mothers against "working women" in what the media coyly call the "mommy wars." When the New York Times ran a story on the controversy, one woman wrote the editor, "The word 'choice' has been used...as a euphemism for unpaid labor, with no job security, no health or vacation benefits and no retirement plans. No wonder men are not clamoring for this 'choice.' Many jobs in the workplace also involve drudgery, but do not leave one financially dependent on another person."
Most institutions, in fact, have not implemented policies that support family life. As a result, many women do feel compelled to choose between work and family. In Scandinavian countries, where laws provide for generous parental leave and subsidized childcare, women participate in the labor force at far greater rates than here--evidence that "opting out" is, more often than not, the result of a poverty of acceptable options.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/20...the_care_crisis
This really struck a chord with me. The last 30 years or so have seen profound change in American Family life. When I was a kid in the 1970s, most moms "stayed at home" with their children and tended to the care of their children, and I do remember a lot of kids that had grandparents living with them.
When I was in High School, my mom went back to work, as did a lot of my friends moms, as money started getting tighter. As girls, we were encouraged to look for careers, and I remember some of my friends making fun of one girl that planned on marrying and having a family right out of high school. I stuck up for her, and it did get me thinking about my career in a different light. I went into the Graphic Arts because I thought it would be something I could do "at home" while I raised children.
I was correct, and I guess it was my "individual solution" to a National dilemma. For me there was no "choice" involved. I had to work. My daughter was rarely in daycare, and in it mostly for the reason that all of the other kids WERE there. She had no one to play with. When I moved out of a blue collar neighborhood into a white collar one, I didn't fit in with the "stay-at-home moms" or the "working moms," as I was a bit of both. Or maybe I should say I sort of fit in with both, as I had friends in both "camps." Somehow, it seems to me that both sets somewhat resent the other, (Mommy Wars) and perhaps that is why women as a group haven't banded together to insist on more solution based legislation. Now that my daughter is old enough to be a real help around the house, she is busy helping a couple across the street with their daycare issues. I can't catch a break!
I do know that in attempting to do it all and 'have it all,' I exhausted myself and my health suffered. It was something I wanted to do, it made me feel good. I still remember and am proud of the way other people thought of me as a "supermom." My house was always clean--not tidy, but clean-- the bills were paid, and my child very well cared for. I am quite sure my eventual exhaustion isn't anything remarkable. Most women likely experience it after a while Something has to give, and it's usually either the housework, the childcare, or the "dependable" status as a worker. After a while women have to prioritize and that decision is as individual as they are.
I do think that this is a real problem, and absent of "blaming the feminists" for everything, I'd like to hear what people think is a solution to this problem.
Ideas?
let's just say with high honors, the blocking system seems to be working this morning - I thought "say what?" 