Tag: Paid Family Leave

What’s on the Horizon for Working Women?

One year ago this week, I was elected as the first woman to lead the AFL-CIO, America’s largest labor federation—consisting of 12.5 million workers across 60 unions.

The past 12 months have been nothing short of historic in how workers—from nurses in New York, to teachers in Minnesota, to warehouse workers at Amazon, to baristas at Starbucks—have risen up and seized our collective power. As working people continue to push for more, I’ll be focused on how we can continue to build a bold, inclusive and modern movement, empower working women through unions and unleash a wave of grassroots organizing that will put all working people on the path to a better life. And gender equity is essential to the future of our movement. 

The Best Present for Minnesota Mothers: Paid Family Leave

In April 2020, my daughter was diagnosed with cancer. Caring for my medically complex daughter was one of the hardest things I have ever done. 

I am thrilled that my home state of Minnesota just approved paid family and medical leave—joining 11 other states and the District of Columbia in offering this program. Signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz (D), Minnesota’s new plan recognizes the incredible labor that family caregivers—the vast majority of whom are women—put into caring for their loved ones, often at financial, physical and emotional cost to themselves.

The next step is for Congress to pass federal paid leave and expand access to FMLA.

What Would It Look Like if the Workplace Was Built for Women?

The number of women leading Australia’s largest companies has risen from a dismal 5 percent in 2020 to 30 percent today. Even still, the country’s working women still face many challenges. There is a gender pay gap (13 percent), and a lack of support for childcare and other family support systems, including paid parental leave. These are the same challenges that women face in the U.S. despite study after study recognizing these barriers to gender equity in business.

Two steps forward for Australia is good news. But so many more steps forward are needed for equal representation and economic equity, and for families, communities, companies and countries everywhere to truly thrive.

North Carolina Abortion Clinics on the Front Lines: The Ms. Q&A with Amber Gavin

Republicans in North Carolina enacted SB 20, which prohibits any licensed physician from performing abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. Ms. spoke with Amber Gavin, vice president of advocacy and operations for A Woman’s Choice, about the impact of the ban, slated to take effect on July 1.

“North Carolina has been a crucial access point to care in the South because so many surrounding states have partial or complete abortion bans. I am fearful and sad about folks not having the access to make decisions that are best for their lives and their futures. It’s unconscionable to take away essential healthcare from our communities, to take away their choices and options.”

Are Women’s Rights the Canary in the Coal Mine of a Democracy in Decline?

The tenets of reproductive health, rights and justice—and those of a healthy democracy—are not only inextricably interconnected, but essential to our nation’s promise.

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group. This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Our Crisis in Maternal Healthcare Is Uniquely American

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.

Without the Public Infrastructure Needed to Support Families, Moms Will Continue to Feel Like Failures

Let’s call it what it is: Moms are in a mental health crisis. Even before COVID, one study found that more than 90 percent of moms reported feeling lonely after having kids, over one-third said they cried regularly, and more than half suffered from anxiety.

After the pandemic hit, fully half of American moms with young kids reported feeling “serious loneliness”; the same number noted a marked mental health decline since the pandemic’s onset.

Blowing the Whistle on the ‘Mommy Track’ (July/August 1989)

and

From the July/August 1989 issue of Ms. magazine:

“Sooner or later, corporations will have to yield to the pressure for paid parental leave, flextime and childcare, if only because they’ve become dependent on female talent. The danger is that employers—no doubt quoting Felice Schwartz for legitimation—will insist that the price for such options be reduced pay and withheld promotions, i.e. consignment to the mommy track. Such a policy would place a penalty on parenthood, and the ultimate victims—especially if the policy trickles down to the already low-paid female majority—will of course be children.”

Women Need Julie Su as Our Next Labor Secretary. The Labor Movement Is Ready to Fight for Her

Julie Su would make history as the second-ever Asian-American woman to hold the role of labor secretary and only the fourth-ever woman of color. But this is about more than representation.

Her knowledge of wage theft, immigrant worker abuse and labor law is personal and encyclopedic. But she also has a deep understanding of what’s happening on the ground.

“A win for Julie Su is a win for women and workers all over this country. Let’s get it done.”