Money Musings 💭 what I’d trade for Mother’s Day
Sunday was Mother’s Day and even though I had a lovely day - breakfast in bed, a cute homemade bracelet from E, and even got to read in the bath, I was filled with rage. 🤬
Mothers get paid 30% less (just for being moms). If you’re a mother of color, the numbers are even worse. Black women earn $0.62 for every dollar a white man earns and 80% of Black mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners for their households.
When a heterosexual couple has a child, the mom’s workload in the home increases by 8.5 hours more per week than the dad’s (for a total additional load of 21 hours per week). This disparity has more than doubled during the current pandemic.
Moms have to physically carry, birth and often feed babies (I know… so far there’s no way to get around this one). This comes with all kinds of health issues, pains and sometimes death.
The US ranks 46th in the world for maternal mortality (putting us in last place of all developed nations). Black women die at 2.5x the rate of white women giving birth.
Not to mention what women go through trying to conceive.
All the while there are so few programs to support mothers. No childcare, sparse paid parental leave, subpar health insurance and we may soon lose our choice in having kids.
And a day is supposed to make up for all of that? It feels almost mocking. Is anyone else feeling this too? 🙋♀️
But what I keep coming back to are the wise words of Lauren Smith Brody - "Having children is the ultimate act of hope. Even in the hard times, deep down, we're optimists."
What can we do? We can vote, we can model a new paradigm for our children and the people around us, we can get educated and check our own biases, and we can support the people and organizations who are making change like those:
Offering paid family leave
Getting women elected into political office
Keeping us informed (from a feminist perspective)
Working to save mothers’ lives (and many many more)
Instead of a day, I want a society and government that values mothers. All mothers.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
Start a log of your successes. You have a big win at work. You pulled off an impossible project, hit a deadline or saved the company major 💰. You can’t imagine you’d ever forget the details because it feels so incredible. Two months later (or even a year later), it’s time to make your case for promotion and you’re scrambling trying to think of your successes. You think, “have I contributed anything this year?!” Your mind draws a blank. Relatable? 🙋♀️
This is why we want to keep a log of the things we accomplish for work. Write down any details you’d like to remember - the project, the result, the team and what impact it had on the company. Don’t assume you’ll remember anything. Better yet, track wins outside of work too. It’s such an important reminder when you need a confidence boost!
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
What I’m watching 📺. Many of us are watching a lot more TV. I recently shared some amazing feminist TV and movie guides to help fill your additional streaming hours. Here’s what I’ve loved:
Unorthodox. The story of a woman who flees an ultra-orthodox community in Brooklyn. Block off some time. You won’t be able to turn this one off.
Hillary. The behind-the-scenes story of one of the “most admired and vilified” women leaders (it also made me terrified for the November election).
Mrs. America. The (star-studded) story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (spoiler - it still hasn't been ratified).
Becoming. A moving and uplifting memoir of Michelle Obama’s life. I’m so inspired by her leadership, voice and her hope-filled message.
Working Moms. A very real (sometimes too real) and hilarious show about what it’s like to be a working mom.
What are you watching?! I’d love recs for what to watch next.