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Childcare needed. Although the US economy has recovered from the early shocks of the COVID-19 crisis, there are still fewer active workers than prepandemic. That’s especially true for women, who often handle the bulk of childcare. Nearly 5 million Americans couldn’t work in early April because they were looking after kids who weren’t in school or daycare. Greater participation in the labor force is good for everyone because it increases productivity, which can in turn lower prices and tamp down inflation. But parents—in particular, moms—can’t come back to work if they don’t have access to affordable childcare. [Fortune] |
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Banish ‘mom guilt.’ Working moms, it’s time to let go of guilt, says Lara Bazelon, a law professor, criminal-defense lawyer, and mom of two. Kids learn important lessons from moms with careers, including how to develop independence and resilience. In fact, daughters of working moms enjoyed greater success at work than those with stay-at-home moms, found one study from 2018 that included about 100,000 individuals in nearly 30 countries. Adult sons of working moms did more chores around the home for their own families. [Atlantic] |
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Gendered role expectations. Men and women alike are subject to gendered role expectations that force them into boxes, says Joann S. Lublin, a former editor for the Wall Street Journal and author of Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life. Moms with kids under 18 earn 69 cents for every dollar earned by working dads. Generally speaking, that’s a much bigger pay gap than the one that exists between working women and men, reflects Lublin. In addition, many men are hesitant to take paid parental leave.
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‘Work–life sway.’ “The idea of work–life sway is that we accept that when we need to be 110% there for our jobs, we will, but if we’ve got to deal with our family, we will move into family mode,” says Lublin. Now that the work-from-home experiment has proven successful, Lublin adds, employers can make remote work a permanent policy, trusting their employees to figure out what works best. Read the full interview for how to fight stereotypical expectations at work and what companies can do to help parents succeed.
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| — Edited by Belinda Yu |
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