Positive Leadhership

Parenting is a rollercoaster ride filled with days that test your limits and moments you'll cherish forever. You never know what each day will hold, but at least you get to spend it with your children.

Comment below some of those memories with your kids that were hard in the moment, but you cherish looking back!

In a country that promotes work, you'd expect that many mothers wouldn't be forced into a situation where they can't work. However, that's exactly what's happening. Whether it's because of cost, location, or quality, childcare remains too expensive and hard to find.

Sadly, as much as moms deserve praise and compensation for their work, we don’t see this happening as much as it should. If affordable childcare was more readily available, there is more potential for moms to work jobs that allowed them to balance parenthood and work more easily.

This information is based on data published by U.S. Census Bureau in 2021. For more information about poverty as it relates to family structures, check out https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/statistical-briefing-book/population/faqs/qa01203

Even though minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum wage to live comfortably, no one can afford to live off such a low sum of money. This is especially true for working mothers, who are statistically some of the most underpaid and overlooked workers. Simply put, being a working mother can be HARD.

Check out The National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s Out of Reach report to see how many hours of minimum wage working will get you a one-bedroom in your area:
https://nlihc.org/oor

Being a working mother comes with many challenges, especially if you’re a single parent. Some of the hardships include role overload, always being on the go, and the inevitable emotional tolls of raising children, but you don’t have to face it alone. Get support. Utilize the resources available to you.

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” is used for a reason: no one can do it all alone.

Childcare affordability is a growing issue in this country, but fortunately, it’s an issue that’s finally being acknowledged. Let’s hope as more information comes out and as more parents advocate; proper accommodations will finally be met.

To learn more about how the pandemic affected working mothers’ employment, check out “Mothers’ Employment Two Years Later: An Assessment of Employment Loss and Recovery During the COVID-19 Pandemic” from the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Laborhttps://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WB/media/Mothers-employment-2%20-years-later-may2022.pdf

Statistically, mothers still predominantly shoulder the role of primary caregivers for children compared to fathers. Because of this, it's unsurprising that mothers of school-aged children had to step away from their workplaces amid the pandemic to ensure proper care for their children. Unfortunately, affordable childcare has also persisted, making it harder for these mothers to transition back to employment.

To learn more about how the pandemic affected working mothers’ employment, check out “Mothers’ Employment Two Years Later: An Assessment of Employment Loss and Recovery During the COVID-19 Pandemic” from the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Laborhttps://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WB/media/Mothers-employment-2%20-years-later-may2022.pdf