2005 Mothers Day Campaign:
Mothers - The Real Story: It's About Time

Individual Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

As Mother’s Day approaches, I enjoy the time and attention my family lavishes on me, but it’s also a time when I think about the challenges mothers face in our society. We are all aware that it takes time to care for our children but I wonder, do we think about the impact that time spent caregiving has on our other responsibilities and our lives in general?

It’s about time to acknowledge that caregiving takes real time and energy. Mothers perform the bulk of caregiving work in American families - on average, double the time fathers spend. As a result, only 35% of married women with children under six are employed full-time, full year.

It’s about time to alleviate the economic risks that mothers face because of the years they spend giving care. Mothers who leave the workforce altogether to care for their families are the most likely to live in poverty in old age. This is due, in part, to receiving zero Social Security credit for those years out and to the inability to contribute to any sort of work-based retirement plans during that time.

It’s about time to insist on more and better options for people to fit the time to care into their lives. Unfortunately, neither the paid workplace nor public policies really provide reasonable ways to combine caregiving work with paid work. Flexible work arrangements are still the exception to the rule. Part-time workers earn 20% less per hour than full-time workers for doing the same work and typically receive few or no benefits. And income tax structures penalize families in which both parents share the paid work as well as the caregiving work.

It’s about time for mothers to come together and share their stories with each other and the world!

The national organization, Mothers & More (www.mothersandmore.org), is celebrating its third annual Mother’s Day Campaign, "Mothers: The Real Story. It’s About Time." I would like to invite all the mothers in our community to join in the celebration and to join me in recognizing the social and economic value of the work all mothers do in caring for their families.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[City]