Fast Company, “How the Astronomical Cost of Child Care is Forcing More Women to Quit their Jobs”

Child care now costs more than college tuition. For many parents, the gender wage gap means women are more likely to leave their jobs.

“Miller reports, “We currently pay $23,000 per year in child care, which is 10% of our salary.” When the second child is born, she says the cost will jump to $46,000 per year (or 20% of their two-income household’s earnings). This will exceed that 10% affordability guideline issued by the HHS.

Although costs vary according to where you live (a household with one 4-year-old in rural South Carolina pays $344 a month, but it jumps to $1,472 a month in Washington, D.C.), Miller’s not alone. She’s a member of the working parents platform It’s Working Project by Forty Weeks where other mothers and fathers have reported spending a similar amount and more on their child care.”

Fast Company, “What Marissa Mayer’s Maternity Leave Decision Means for Working Parents at Yahoo”

Despite Generous Paid Leave Policies, Examples Set By The CEOs Of Facebook And Yahoo May Have A Bigger Impact On How Much Employees Use.

“Mayer’s own post-pregnancy choices made it clear that it was perfectly reasonable to expect a new mother to return to a highly demanding role before her stitches even heal.”

Forbes, “When Parenthood Means Becoming Your Own Boss”

Rather than get “mommy tracked” into a dead-end or slow-growth job, some women are now deciding instead that they’d prefer to create their own career path in motherhood. They’re saying goodbye to big, corporate jobs and instead striking out on their own as entrepreneurs, consultants, or freelancers.

“There is something about this generation of parents that says, ‘If this does not work for me, I’m not going to be penalized,’” Julia Beck says. “When you are penalized, you are a victim, but when you pivot, you are picking up your things and going elsewhere. You’re evaluating your real-time needs and the demands of your current situation.”

Fortune Magazine, “Inside the Secret Society of Executive Moms”

A look at the surprising, off-the-radar ways working moms help each other balance families and high-powered careers.

“Moms who feel unsupported often end up quitting. Not only is replacing these executives costly, but when you “factor in her role as a leader, a mentor and a part of a thriving ecosystem” the departures hurt company morale and cohesion, says Beck.” 

The Washington Post, “Netflix and parental leave: Today a PR move. Hopefully tomorrow, the norm?”

Is there a chipping away at the lack of paid-leave policies that don’t exist in this country? Piece by piece, perhaps, companies are finding ways to make work work for parents. And, more clearly, they’re learning that it’s getting them some good attention.

“A hugely profitable corporation paying to ship milk from a handful (at most) of women who are pumping and traveling? Not a big hit on the earnings reports. And yet, how much is the company getting from not only offering to do this, but also letting the world know?”

Huffington Post, “Another Way Companies Make it Harder for New Mothers”

There are things women can do to make sure they get the support they need, should they choose to breastfeed after returning to work.

“Even though she put together a schedule for pumping on her breaks, Lauren had no place to go.  She shared an office — and it didn’t lock. She considered quitting nursing altogether, but then decided to talk to her school’s vice principal, who found her space in an electrical closet.”

 

 

Babies need to eat, sometimes even in the middle of depositions. Sometimes even if it inconveniences Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. That’s how it works, or how it’s supposed to work.

But when attorney Elizabeth Beck requested a break from a deposition in order to pump breastmilk for her 3-month old, Trump told Beck, “You’re disgusting,” before leaving the room.

In a Babble story about the courtroom incident, Rachel Bertsche reports:

“Alan Garten, a lawyer for Trump who was present at the deposition, told the Times that Trump’s statement ‘was in no way a statement about her decision to breastfeed or pump. It was solely the fact that she was appearing to do it in the middle of a deposition,’ and Garten said Beck was using the pump break as an excuse to get extra time to come up with questions for Trump.”

This kind of response is disappointing enough coming from a man, but from someone running for presidential office, it’s a disgrace.

“It’s out of touch for anyone, particularly a candidate for president, to call breastfeeding disgusting.” Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director of CEO and MomsRising, told Yahoo Parenting, adding that all parents are paying close attention to how presidential candidates can represent working families. As well they should. It can—and should—work much better than this!

The UK is often praised for its policy granting up to 52 weeks of maternity leave.

Sounds great, right? But with that generous leave comes another issue for working mothers- pregnancy discrimination.

Over 54,000 women are forced out of a job after having a child, a stat reported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and that shockingly high number was brought to light more recently by a tell-all site, “Pregnant Then Screwed” – where women can anonymously share their workplace nightmares.

Fortune reports on countless women sharing their awful workplace experiences:

“‘When I told my employer, she asked me if I had considered an abortion.’

‘They said that the woman who was covering maternity leave had better skills to take the company forward and they were dismissing me.’”

Maybe it’s the employer’s focus and priorities that need a shift.

After seeing their own mothers struggle to balance work and family life, millennials are taking a new approach to having it all — planning for career pauses.

Claire Cain Miller writes in The Upshot for the New York Times:

“In surveys of millennials who are college-educated professionals by the Center for Talent Innovation, a research group, the young people said they saw their parents struggle while working full time or leave the workforce altogether, and wanted a different option. ‘They felt as if they were learning from generations before them, and saw all of the downsides in both choices,’ said Laura Sherbin, the center’s director of research. ‘Millennials are looking for more of a balance.’”

Employers are beginning to understand that millennials have different expectations. It’s time for the rest of the private sector to catch up.

 

That simple yet oh-so-complicated question: “Will you be going back to work after the baby is born?”

In a recent article from Cosmopolitan, Lori Fradkin tells her story of being asked the gender-specific question all too many times.

“Policy changes might make it easier for women to remain in the workforce — and some mothers will likely choose not to work regardless — but attitudes matter too. After all, what’s the point of encouraging little girls to work hard in school, get good grades, apply for college, and secure a job after graduation if we then turn around and say to them, essentially, “So, are you still planning to use all that?”

More needs to be done to support women and their working choices, and the right support makes all the difference.

Last Tuesday marked the passing of Marlene Sanders, a pioneering television reporter who epitomized what it’s working looks like. More than an inspiration to the generations of female journalists who followed the trail she blazed, Marlene was a working mom free from guilt, supported by her spouse, and beloved by her child.

“The key to her success in both journalism and in having a family was she didn’t agonize, she didn’t suffer, she wasn’t guilt-ridden. This was her life,” her son Jeffrey Toobin, a staff writer for The New Yorker and legal analyst for CNN, said in Katherine Rosman’s New York Times postscript dedicated to honoring his mother’s legacy.

Thank you, Marlene, for showing moms–and the world–how it can, and should, work!

 

Making parental leave gender-neutral would go a long way in the climb to workplace gender equality.

There has been little doubt that paternity leave is beneficial for both father and baby, but companies that offer and support these policies are also leveling the playing field for new mothers. And it’s working for both families and employers.

In The Huffington Post, Emily Peck writes:

“Making leave gender-neutral would go a long way toward reducing the so-called motherhood penalty. As one recent study showed, when it’s only women who take parental leave, they’re less likely to be promoted and tend to make less than their male counterparts.”

Not only do leave family policies for both men and women support a more positive work/life balance and employee retention, they support closing the career gap between men and women — something we can all stand behind.

 

Kristy Kemp, creator of the Facebook page Breastfeeding Mama Talk, posted a photo of Target’s breastfeeding policy and started racking up the “likes” (40,384 at time of writing!). As is Target, which previously faced criticism from breastfeeding moms in 2011 after one woman’s negative experience.

Kemp urged people on her FB page to “Please share this everywhere especially on the Facebook pages of the businesses known to discriminate against breastfeeding!” With 16,193 shares at the time of writing, it seems people are doing just that.

Target confirmed to ABC News the sign “accurately reflects our policy.”

Spokesman Joshua Thomas told ABC News, “At Target, we want all of our guests to feel comfortable shopping with us. Our breast-feeding policy, which applies to all stores, is just one of the ways in which we support our guests.”

 

Pumping breast milk can be hard for some moms. Shipping said pumped milk (aka liquid gold), is a colossal pain for ALL moms—refrigeration, transport, and TSA regulations, oh my! That is, unless you’re a breastfeeding mom who works for IBM.

Solidifying its nearly 30-year place on Working Mother’s list of the 100 Best Companies, the tech giant is rolling out a program for nursing moms that makes other companies’ breast milk shipping reimbursement programs pale in comparison.

The Washington Post has the details.

“We do all the work so the mother doesn’t have to think about any of the details,” Barbara Brickmeier, vice president of benefits at IBM, told The Washington Post.

Indeed, nursing moms planning travel simply download the app, enter accommodation details, estimate amount of temp-controlled packages needed, and voila—thanks to the marvels of modern technology and a corporate commitment to bringing working moms back to work with ease, as a matter of course, and with a sense of pride—pre-addressed and pre-paid shipping packages will be ready at the hotel for overnight shipment.

Nothing says, “we care about retaining female talent” like a no charge, no hassle way to facilitate being a great mom and a great employee. Way to show the rest of them how it can work, IBM!

Wish your company would step in line with IBM or just want to commend them? Tweet #ItsWorking #IBM #NursingMomsTravel.