Motherhood Manifesto

The movie about the book, The Motherhood Manifesto shows how the 2/3 of all moms that work face huge problems today. Even though more hours are spent at work, women without kids will earn 90% of what a man makes for the same job. Even more alarming, a working mom will earn 70% and a single mom will earn 60% of the salary a man would make at the same job.
The movie takes a closer look at a single mom named Kiki who moved to Pennsylvania after her husband left them. She didn’t think it would be hard to find a job, but this was not the case. Every employer turned her down because she wasn’t married and had kids. Employers also rejected her because she was on welfare, and worse, offered her less pay because she had kids. Starting then and still to this day, Kiki fights for a law in Pennsylvania that says employers can’t discriminate based on marriage.
The relationship with mothers and newborns is an extremely important bond to form. Six out of seven women in the United States find themselves without any paid maternity and paternity leave. Selena Allen was a married mother with no paid leave when her son Connor was born six weeks premature. Even though her baby was in intensive care, Selena had to go back to work on Monday. However, women in the Czech Republic get two years paid maternity leave, putting the United States comparable to countries such as Losota, Swaziland, and Papa New Guinea.
The movie interviews business man Jim Johnson, who reorganized his business to let people work from home, keep flexible hours, and keep their jobs after having kids. Positive changes came in the form of small turnover, higher productivity, and even less space needed for his new building. Without open work shifts parents have to leave their kids unattended during the day increasing their chances of being involved in Juvenile crimes.
9 million children in America have no health insurance according to The Motherhood Manifesto. Families can’t keep up with bills for children with chronic illnesses and end up filing for bankruptcy. The Motherhood Manifesto offers the solution of giving health insurance to all kids, which in the end would save us money if they remained healthier when they were younger.
Women portrayed also struggle with the problem of childcare. They can’t find quality childcare at a reasonable price. Even so-so childcare can cost an average of $700 a month. A woman in Chicago who owns her own day care tries to provide quality childcare inexpensively. She even takes on mothers who can’t pay. She has joined a union of home childcare providers to try to help improve her life, since she doesn’t get benefits for her extremely important job.
Overall, women make the choice between putting food on the dinner table or being at the dinner table. Two women wrote the book The Motherhood Manifesto and started the website Momsrising.org where moms and concerned people can find action steps to take to try to change the way the United States treats mothers. Their final message is that voters need to unite in order to win this battle.

Blog Assignments for Spring 07

Stephanie Carcione The Motherhood Manifesto April 15th
Tracy Rausch The Andersonville Study on Retail Economics April 22nd

Malisa Komalarajun I, Rigoberta Menchu May 5th
Chris Kitahara I, Rigoberta Menchu May 5th
Belva Smith Black Gold May 5th
Nate Wieser Chicago Fair Trade presentation May 5th
Hisham Madani Sudan Freedom Walk presentation May 14th
Cassandra Savage Privlege Walk May 20th
Albert Chesnow Ecocide of Native America May 27th
Tiffany Bibbs Women, Race and Class May 27th