Mothers, Make A Difference
Here's a gift we can give ourselves on Mother's Day: a reality check on the status of mothers. This information certainly isn't packaged with a pretty pink bow, but then it isn't designed to make you feel warm and fuzzy. It's intended to provoke you into becoming active in the struggle to make mothers a more valued part of our society.
Author Riane Eisler has done a lot of research on the status of women. We need to hear what she has to say because we are the ones who feel the economic pinch when business and government don't enact policies that make our lives more manageable and our futures more secure.
Below I am copying the press release promoting Eisler's new book because I, too, am hoping that when women begin to fully understand how society is taking them for granted, they will get angry enough to take action. Eisler offers some wonderful suggestions on how to get started.
As for women in power, I can only hope that they will be among the first to institute some of the needed changes in our workplaces, homes and bank accounts.
Here's the release:
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 07, 2007 -- With Mother's Day coming up, people are looking for ways to make their mothers and wives feel special, but we should really be looking at how women are treated in their daily lives, according to Riane Eisler, author of "The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics" and the international bestseller "The Chalice and the Blade." Women in the U.S. are twice as likely as men to live in poverty after the age of 65. Most of these women were caregivers either for their families or for others through their jobs, yet their reward is poverty -- even though Salary.com, a compensation software and data company, estimates that the annual market value of stay-at-home mothers' work is $138,095.
"Most people agree that the work of mothers, raising children and guiding them so they can become positive, productive members of society, is one of the most important jobs on earth. So, why is it the least valued in our economic system?" Eisler asks. "Whether mothers are working outside the home or are stay-at-home mothers, we have to make changes to help family units thrive. In our business practices," she says, "we should require paid parental leave supported both by employers and the re-allocation of our tax dollars. We have to demand changes from our government and politicians to reflect what we value on a personal level -- people, family, mothers, the people who care for our children."
An important point that Eisler makes in "The Real Wealth of Nations" is that in cultures where the status of women is higher, there is less violence, less poverty, longer adult life spans, and lower infant mortality rates. "It is surprising to me that in the U.S., a country that is supposed to be so advanced, we still offer so few benefits for mothers and we still have some musicians and other public figures openly putting down women," says Eisler, who is also president of the Center for Partnership Studies (www.partnershipway.org).
She points out that California is the first state in the U.S. to require paid parental leave, and that most states still have no such laws, even though they are commonplace in other nations.
Eisler's recommendations for things you can do to make a difference for mothers in the U.S.:
1. To help stay-at-home mothers, phone call-in shows to bring attention to the fact that mothers are not really valued when it comes to providing for them in their old age, and write letters to your representatives and to political candidates asking for laws that provide social security payments and tax credits to parents and other caregivers.
2. To help mothers who also work outside of the home, ask your representative and your employer to institute paid parental leave and flex-time for parents.
3. Show businesses how cost-effective it is to have on-site daycare. (Many studies show that companies with on-site daycare see a high return on their investment, reflecting less absenteeism, greater worker retention, and improved productivity.)
4. For people who are in positions of influence, such as business managers and other leaders, use your power to enact change by implementing better policies to support families, including good medical care, parental leave policies, and educational programs.
For more information on Eisler, visit www.rianeeisler.com.
Author Riane Eisler has done a lot of research on the status of women. We need to hear what she has to say because we are the ones who feel the economic pinch when business and government don't enact policies that make our lives more manageable and our futures more secure.
Below I am copying the press release promoting Eisler's new book because I, too, am hoping that when women begin to fully understand how society is taking them for granted, they will get angry enough to take action. Eisler offers some wonderful suggestions on how to get started.
As for women in power, I can only hope that they will be among the first to institute some of the needed changes in our workplaces, homes and bank accounts.
Here's the release:
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 07, 2007 -- With Mother's Day coming up, people are looking for ways to make their mothers and wives feel special, but we should really be looking at how women are treated in their daily lives, according to Riane Eisler, author of "The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics" and the international bestseller "The Chalice and the Blade." Women in the U.S. are twice as likely as men to live in poverty after the age of 65. Most of these women were caregivers either for their families or for others through their jobs, yet their reward is poverty -- even though Salary.com, a compensation software and data company, estimates that the annual market value of stay-at-home mothers' work is $138,095.
"Most people agree that the work of mothers, raising children and guiding them so they can become positive, productive members of society, is one of the most important jobs on earth. So, why is it the least valued in our economic system?" Eisler asks. "Whether mothers are working outside the home or are stay-at-home mothers, we have to make changes to help family units thrive. In our business practices," she says, "we should require paid parental leave supported both by employers and the re-allocation of our tax dollars. We have to demand changes from our government and politicians to reflect what we value on a personal level -- people, family, mothers, the people who care for our children."
An important point that Eisler makes in "The Real Wealth of Nations" is that in cultures where the status of women is higher, there is less violence, less poverty, longer adult life spans, and lower infant mortality rates. "It is surprising to me that in the U.S., a country that is supposed to be so advanced, we still offer so few benefits for mothers and we still have some musicians and other public figures openly putting down women," says Eisler, who is also president of the Center for Partnership Studies (www.partnershipway.org).
She points out that California is the first state in the U.S. to require paid parental leave, and that most states still have no such laws, even though they are commonplace in other nations.
Eisler's recommendations for things you can do to make a difference for mothers in the U.S.:
1. To help stay-at-home mothers, phone call-in shows to bring attention to the fact that mothers are not really valued when it comes to providing for them in their old age, and write letters to your representatives and to political candidates asking for laws that provide social security payments and tax credits to parents and other caregivers.
2. To help mothers who also work outside of the home, ask your representative and your employer to institute paid parental leave and flex-time for parents.
3. Show businesses how cost-effective it is to have on-site daycare. (Many studies show that companies with on-site daycare see a high return on their investment, reflecting less absenteeism, greater worker retention, and improved productivity.)
4. For people who are in positions of influence, such as business managers and other leaders, use your power to enact change by implementing better policies to support families, including good medical care, parental leave policies, and educational programs.
For more information on Eisler, visit www.rianeeisler.com.
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