Tag: Childcare

For Women in America, the Fight for ‘Real Self‑Care’ Never Ends

An excerpt of Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included) by Pooja Lakshmin, out March 14, 2023.

“The work of real self‑care is about changing our relationships with ourselves, and, in turn, what naturally follows such internal change is a reorganizing of larger systems. … The energy and collective power that was harnessed by individuals in 2021 has led to real and tangible changes at the state level and in the corporate sector.”

America Needs Julie Su as the Next Secretary of Labor

President Biden recently announced his nomination of Julie Su to be the next secretary of the Department of Labor. She has spent her career fighting for equity and inclusion in the workforce.

Women across the country are thrilled that President Biden has taken the critical first step in nominating Julie Su — now we need to keep the pressure on the Senate to confirm her.

Industrial Policy Requires Care Infrastructure Investments

, and

The combination of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)—all signed into law by President Biden in the past two years—will create millions of new jobs in the American economy in the months and years ahead. These new industrial policy jobs will be across energy, physical infrastructure, manufacturing, science and technology.

Building care infrastructure into industrial infrastructure is the best way to ensure that these good jobs that have been created have people to work in them. Building a care infrastructure into the new U.S. industrial policy is not only the right thing to do, but also the most strategic.

Welfare Is *Still* a Woman’s Issue

In the richest nation in the world, it shouldn’t be this difficult to make ends meet for yourself and your family.

As a society, we can choose to prioritize parents and their families. And that starts by implementing a guaranteed income program that will empower Black families and women everywhere. The fight for guaranteed income has deep roots in the civil rights movement—and it’s long overdue.

Women’s Work Is the Backbone of the U.S. Economy

We don’t say, “Behind every great man is a great woman” anymore, because women aren’t standing behind men anymore; we are care workers and caregivers leading the way to making the investments in our shared care infrastructure that we all need. Paid parental leave, higher wages for care workers, a domestic workers’ bill of rights, pay transparency and equal pay for equal work are just a few of the solutions that are long overdue.

(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)

Invest in Caregiving—and Give Women and Families a Break

The COVID-19 pandemic forced our nation to look critically at how our societal infrastructure, or lack thereof, has failed women in our roles as both workers and caregivers. As one sociologist put it: “Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.” So what can we do?

(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)

Teen Girls Are Experiencing Sky-High Rates of Sadness and Hopelessness. Here’s What Parents Can Do to Help

A study from the CDC revealed alarming statistics about the rapidly declining mental health of teenage girls. Nearly three in five U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021—almost a 60 percent increase from 2011. Teen girls are also experiencing record high levels of rape, sexual violence, depression and suicidal ideation.

Parents and caregivers, can support them by identifying potential signs of depression or anxiety and getting them the help that they need as soon as possible. With more support and attention from their immediate community, they may begin to realize they aren’t as alone as they think. 

Abortion Restrictions Are Racist. Freedom Means Full Access for All, Full Stop.

A Texas case could soon force the FDA to revoke its approval of the abortion pill, mifepristone—a critical lifeline post-Roe and one of two drugs commonly used in a medication abortion, the procedure that currently accounts for more than half of all abortions in the country.

This abortion restriction would impact people of color the hardest. Why? Because abortion restrictions and bans are inherently racist.