Political Nanny is rewarding Barack Obama a few extra cookies at snacktime today for stating what is obvious to many but spoken of by so few: the U.S. doesn’t support working women.
On a campaign stop Monday, Obama met with nine working women in New Hampshire who sang the praises of flex-time and family leave. There, he made a pitch for expanding the Family and Medical Leave act to cover more workers and include time away for school activities, spending $1.5 billion for states to cover workers leave, and adding funding for after-school programs.
He left out one thing, however. Political Nanny would like to add that no family-friendly policy talk is complete without discussion of affordable, nearby, quality childcare. This is a huge problem for working mothers and fathers, including the middle class. Mile-long waiting lists and salary-eating tuition for the good stuff, lots of holding our noses and quiet toleration of the barely adequate stuff.
Most childcare agencies are for-profit, and therefore have to maximize earnings. This means rigid schedules, a penalty for part-timers, few extras and crappy food. And often, no space for babies – only potty-trained 2-year-olds.
While we're at it, we're also waiting for a candidate to take maternity leave seriously. Even accounting for the Family and Medical Leave Act, the U.S. standard 6-week leave for moms is woefully inadequate for both parents.
Obama told these workers that a lack of support for working mothers winds up costing society more in the long run, much like inadequate healthcare and disease prevention ends up costing more in an overload of critical care. In that case, he should know that affordable and available childcare can mean the difference between going back to work after having a baby or “opting out.”
What's your working woman issue for the candidates? What would you have said to Obama about work, family and U.S. support?
