Mothers/ Motherhood

"Policymakers tend to put things into what we call 'silos,'" Dr. Dodson said. "Jobs here. Kids there. Instead, we need to look at the ways these things affect each other. The structure of low-wage jobs creates a particular kind of obstacle for parents trying to take good care of their kids." And children thrust into their own care-giving roles are children who aren't easily able to develop the skills they need to do better than a low-wage job for themselves as adults. The low-wage job cycle becomes a vicious one.

"Putting "baby" and "easy" in the same sentence turns you into one of those mothers we don't like very much. When you do, it makes us feel (more) inadequate; starts us wondering (again) what we are doing wrong."

This fall, the Committee on the Concerns of Women at Harvard hosted "Imperfect Balance," a discussion of Anne-Marie Slaughter's Atlantic article, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All."

"New mothers will be able to return to work two weeks after childbirth and share the rest of their maternity leave with their partner under new plans."

"The concurrently magical and mind-numbing task of shepherding a child from infancy to adulthood without significant emotional harm, and with a clean PE kit, usually involves, at least to some extent, two parents.  Yet the public mud-slinging and private soul-searching that surround the act of balancing of work and family is almost exclusively seen as a 'women's issue.' "

"Fortunately, in the face of this evidence, there's ample research suggesting that the solutions to our "always on," career-driven lives are within reach. Family can actually be a great thing for your career, by giving us perspective and the ability to be more detached from our working lives' daily ups and downs."

"So here's a radical idea: The only way for both women and men to get ahead is to make parental leave not just paid, but mandatory. That's the only way to fully destigmatize it. Sounds crazy, I know, but hear me out."

"We're going to see more new possibilities, if my research on Wharton students (part of the Work/Life Integration Project) is any indication. In 1992 we surveyed over 450 Wharton students, at the moment they graduated. Then, this past May, we asked the same set of questions of the Wharton undergraduates in the Class of 2012. In part, the surveys explored attitudes about two-career relationships."