June 10, 2011: Flexible Work Arrangements NOT Limited to Mothers : For work/family scholars, big box retailer Best Buy has been an industry leader with its "results only work environment", (ROWE) where performance depends on results achieved, not the number of hours worked.  Researchers have found that what was thought to be uniquely appealing to mothers of young children is implemented by and yields benefits to the entire workforce, and the bottom line. 

May 18, 2011: Motherhood:  The Next Generation: What do Gen Y women expect their lives to be like?  One researcher says equal parts work and family, with a rejection of high-octane jobs and all-consuming work.  It's tempting to think that their expectations will influence workplace culture, and lead to a more equitable sharing within the home of the income-generating work and the unpaid, household and family care work.  Didn't many of us expect the same, only to hit the "maternal wall" and persistent sexism decades after the women's liberation movement?  Will it be different for them? 

May 18, 2011: Where the Boys Are...or the Man of the House:Work/life expert and blogger Cali Yost used the preceding item as a jumping off point for this piece about the role of men in the conversation of workplace flexibility and the role they want to play in their children's lives. 

May 18, 2011: Social Security - A Mystery No More: Yes, you can... understand Social Security.  There has never been a more effective federal program.  It shields millions of seniors, mostly women, from poverty, and it protects families after the death or disability of a parent.  Now that it is in the headlights of the deficit hawks in Congress, you need to know how your future is at stake.  Will it soon be "broke"? No.  Does it need a tune up?  Yes.  Here's a nifty power point from two of the foremost experts in the country, Virginia Reno and Elisa Walker.

May 5, 2011: "Mother" as a Verb: Freelance photographer Ali Smith studies mother love in action in a series of shots for her project "Momma Love; How the Mother Half Lives".  You'll be inspired by the variety of the maternal experience beautifully depicted at http://momfilter.com/talk/editors-letter-ali-smith.  We love, protect, nurture, grow, teach, challenge and comfort our children, in a million different ways every day.  What a diverse group we mothers are!

May 5, 2011: Mothering Against the Odds: Were you raised by a single parent?  One quarter of all US children are now, and that's more than any other industrialized country in the world.  The vast majority of single parents are women.  In some ways, it's harder here than anywhere else.  As the Associated Press points out in this recent article, "The U.S. ... lacks policies to help support families, including childcare at work and national paid maternity leave, which are commonplace in other countries."  We also have higher rates of child poverty, even though many single mothers work.  Low wage jobs, coupled with a lack of policies supporting children and families, mean the basics needs for food, shelter, and health care aren't met for millions.  But make no mistake, we make single mothering an uphill climb.  It could be otherwise.  As noted in the AP piece, "it isn't being a single parent in itself that raises difficulties.  'Single moms do a brilliant and amazing job raising their children,' said Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. 'It is also true that single moms in this country are systemically underpaid, and systematically under-resourced and systemically unrespected. It's not the fact they are single moms that makes things difficult.'"

May 5, 2011: Mothers As Advocates: Every single day, in your very own home, you make difficult decisions, allocate resources, quell fears, and persuade cranky people to your way of thinking.  Congratulations, Mom - you have all the skills of an effective advocate!  This toolkit from "Zero to Three", the national nonprofit promoting children's health and development, knows that the road to children's well-being leads straight to informed mothers who will speak out.  Their online interactive worksheets direct and organize your thinking and presto - you are a voice for change.

April 18, 2011: A Big Job for a "Little Lady": Member of Congress Debbie Wasserman Schultz was named Chair of the Democratic National Committee by President Obama.  She's had a most distinguished political career and been in Congress since 2005.  Now she is running for re-election, and has had breast cancer, 7 surgeries, a double mastectomy, and 3 children (including one set of twins).  She claims never to be without a crayon in her purse.  Her appointment as DNC Chair, responsible for coordinating the party's daily activities, sparked comment from other lawmakers that she might be in over her head.  These remarks, in turn, lead to accusations of sexism, which led to stout defenses and denials.  It was a good ol' Washington brouhaha with lots of outrage and finger pointing.  Do you believe the suggestions of "strain" would still have been made if the President had named a man?  Read these three articles on Wasserman's ability from : http://jezebel.com/#!5789878/congressman-questions-debbie-wasserman-schultzs-ability-to-handle-new-job

http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/which-two-jobs-are-critics-saying-debbie-wasserman-schultz-cant-do 

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=0B269708-0AA1-4D1C-BECD-0591A769ACE0

January 27, 2011: Tatas on the Brain: Whether you breastfed your own babies or not, you know a lot about lactation already.  But you might not know that breastfeeding keeps employers' business costs down because mothers miss less work when babies are healthier, as the Wall Street Journal's Marketwatch recently reported.  The mother's productivity at work is enhanced, she's less likely to quit, and the employer has lower turnover.  You might also be surprised to hear that the new healthcare reform law (which the majority Republican House of Representatives voted to repeal last week) requires some employers to provide regular break times and suitable environments (i.e. not a bathroom) for expressing breast milk.  Breastfeeding mothers employed within the executive branch of the federal government can exercise this policy for the first year of their baby's life, according to the Washington Post.  As that weren't enough lactation in the news, the US Surgeon General made a splash last week with her "Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding", citing the health benefits for both mothers and babies.  She even encouraged employers to implement paid maternity leave policies to facilitate a long and lasting breastfeeding bond.  Corporate Voices for Working Families has weighed in with a response, including an "Employer Guide to Workplace Support for Working Mothers". 

January 13, 2011: Justice Scalia Says Women Lack Constitutional Protection:Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated in a recent interview that women are not included in the class of "persons" entitled to the "equal  protection" of the law contained in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution because the term as used at the time the amendment was adopted only referred to men.  Women's groups and others have loudly rejected this interpretation, and/or argued that Judge Scalia's statement highlights the necessity of the Equal Rights Amendment, to bring women within the scope of Constitutional protection.  Here's the Huffington Post article of the Justice's assertion.   Politics Daily also covered it here.  Picking up the challenge, several members of Congress, like Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Gwen Moore, joined women's rights activists outside the Capitol for a press conference to assert that Justice Scalia had just made the case for passage of the ERA. Here's a video of that press conference.   Here's that argument from change.org 

January 13, 2011: Mid-Term Shuffle in the West Wing:The second half of President Obama's first term will see some key changes in the President's staff.  Notable for women and families, former head of the White House's Executive Office of Public Engagement, Tina Tchen is sliding over to become the First Lady's Chief of Staff.  She will continue in her post as director of the White House Council on Women & Girls, which has opened up the Administration to the voices of women's advocacy groups and non-profits in an unprecedented fashion.  This suggests that the status of women and other family caregivers will remain a priority and that the executive branch will continue to foster discussion on workplace flexibility and other issues relating to carework. 

January 13, 2011:The Latest on the Mommy Tax: What happens when you decide to stay home with your children....then years later seek to re-enter the paid work force?  Of course, there are many paths, and some women have re-invented themselves with ease.  Others, not so much.  Here's a tale from the downside which appeared in Salon.com

January 13, 2011: House Republicans Aim to Repeal Health Care Reform: Immediately after being sworn in and opening the 112th Congress, Republican leadership in the House began efforts to take apart, repeal and/or unfund the Affordable Care Act passed just last year.  If they are successful, women will again face the likelihood of higher premiums based solely on their gender, exclusions for maternity care, a denial of coverage for medical treatment for injuries resulting from domestic or sexual violence, and loss of coverage due to lifetime caps.  It's a matter of fact that woman will delay seeking care for themselves or incurring medical costs when money is tight.  Without access to health care, millions of American families will never know economic security or peace of mind.  The National Women's Law Center has put together a fact sheet showing the consequences of repealing health care reform here.

January 13, 2011: Who Gets to Put Family Before Work?: The New Jersey Governor has defended being on a family vacation during the holiday blizzard, explaining that his "first and most important responsibility...is as a husband and father".  Would a female governor have dared to say the same?  Lisa Belkin in the NY Times wonders...