The women’s movement hit its stride in the 1970s. Women took to the streets demanding equality, the right to their bodies and the right to work.
But the ashes from those burning bras have long disintegrated. And 50 years later many women, including me, have wondered why there hasn’t been another revolution, this time to demand policies that enable women to succeed both at work and at home.
With Democrats now in full control of the legislative and executive branches of government, relief for working mothers is on the radar in 2021.
President Joe Biden has a national plan he calls “Mobilizing American Talent and Heart to Create a 21st Century Caregiving and Education Workforce.” Biden’s plan aims to expand child care and services for the elderly and the disabled, and elevate the status and pay of caregivers.
His $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan would reinstate and expand paid leave for parents who need to care for children out of school during the pandemic, and it would allow families to claim a $3,000 credit for every child between ages 6 and 18 and $3,600 for children under 6 years old. Democrats could package it in a reconciliation bill to overcome GOP opposition.
In the meantime, statistics speak volumes. The Census Bureau reported that a third of working women 25 to 44 years old who are unemployed said the reason was a lack of child care. Schools shut down. Work demands increased. It was the perfect storm.
Women, especially women of color, are more likely to have lost their jobs. For those who still have jobs, the structures that made it possible to work and care for families have crumbled. Schools, for example, switched to remote or hybrid classes. “Somebody’s got to oversee that, and women are wildly, disproportionately, bearing that load,” said Slaughter. “And so you’re seeing women opting out. You’re seeing almost a million women who’ve already dropped out of the workforce or went part-time because they just can’t do it.”
One in four women reported that they were considering downsizing their careers or leaving the workforce as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a study by nonprofit Lean In and consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
Making matters more onerous for women: One-third of working mothers in two-parent households reported they were the only ones providing care for their children, compared with one-tenth of working fathers, according to the Center for Economic and Social Research at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. In December, the jobs report was grim. More than 140,000 jobs were lost, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and they all belonged to women.
This is nothing less than a crisis for working moms — whether they work at Walmart or on Wall Street. What’s worse: Women who are dropping out of the labor force may not find a way back in, setting working moms back in pay, in stature and in the ability to climb the career ladder.
For any working parent, and especially moms, the Biden plan is welcome. But, frankly, it’s eyed with more than a dash of cynicism. Simply, the U.S. government — that includes presidents and Congress — has failed until now to care for working mothers. And at a moment when caregivers need help most, we have had to reckon with our status as orphans.
Joanne Levine is executive producer for Congressional Quarterly Roll Call’s multimedia and a mother of two.