More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Maternity leave refers to the period of absence from work granted before and after the birth or adoption of a child. In accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act, the U.S. provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year— lagging behind most industrialized nations that offer paid leave.
Launched in 2018, the Reykjavík Global Forum convenes women leaders from all sectors, including politics, business, civil society, academia, the arts and media, to share ideas and solutions on how to further advance society towards female and male equality and to promote and positively develop the number of women in leadership positions.
Maternal healthcare in the U.S. is largely not accessible, equitable, affordable or person-centered. When maternal health suffers, so does newborn health and future child health.
For this Mother’s Day, policymakers, administrators, medical practitioners and healthcare providers need to demonstrate to mothers in the U.S. that they are a priority and advocate for legislation that promotes comprehensive maternal healthcare.
This past weekend marked a milestone anniversary for a historic piece of legislation: the Family and Medical Leave Act, or the FMLA. As the FMLA turns 30, we should use this opportunity to celebrate its legacy—and reflect upon how much further our country still has to go when it comes to supporting workers in balancing their personal and professional lives.
Roughly 44 percent of workers are not covered by the FMLA, and even for those who are covered, taking unpaid leave is often unfeasible. I urge you to raise your voice and join the movement to make a comprehensive, paid family and medical leave a reality for every worker in America.
A troop of Girl Scouts visited the Capitol to see the promise of America and instead watched their fundamental constitutional right to abortion healthcare get stripped away from them.
As the nationwide formula shortage gained more news coverage, social media outlets like Twitter started buzzing—not with compassion for these scared parents, but rather judgment that these mothers hadn’t breastfed and were therefore at fault for their current predicament.
(Of course, the irony of the formula shortage happening at the same time that the Supreme Court is poised to force American women to carry unwanted pregnancies is also not lost on many.)
As women’s sports make progress (however slow), it is imperative to examine the crucial problems characteristic of the industry and decide what equality can look like. Is the male model of sports really the standard worth striving for? What does a healthy sports culture look like and how can we foster that with the evolution of women’s sports?
Here are four reasons why men’s sports are not the gold standard—they’re the relic of a problematic past.
After giving birth, new moms are faced with the struggle of balancing the physical needs of their recovering bodies, emotional needs of being a new mother and the financial needs of returning to work. With one in four women returning to work just two weeks after delivery, it is past time for the U.S. to prioritize paid parental leave. Taking care of mothers, who make up 57 percent of our workforce, is the first step towards a safer and healthier tomorrow.
Saturday, Jan. 22, marked Roe v. Wade’s 49th anniversary—and it very well may be its last.
On Friday, Jan. 21, experts on democracy and elections from the Brennan Center and Ms. discussed the implications of the Texas abortion law S.B. 8 and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that directly challenges the precedent of Roe.
Sponsored by Ms. and the Gender and Policy Center at George Mason University’s Schar School, the rousing discussion set the stage for how the U.S. got to this point, and outlined where we go from here.
The goal of the Build Back Better framework is to solve the challenges that families are facing and to build a stronger future that gives them more opportunity to thrive and leaves them less vulnerable to emergencies. To truly do that, we need to create a universal paid family and medical leave program.
The U.S. lags behind countries across the globe in terms of supporting working women and families. Most countries guarantee workers paid family leave and offer generous support for childcare. Not the United States. But that may soon change—at least in part.