"According to an analysis of census data...mothers in the U.S. are paid 71 cents for every dollar that fathers make...about $16,000 a year in lost wages" (Hess, 2019, par. 1). This difference in pay has been examined and explained with a concept known as the motherhood penalty (Hess,2019). The motherhood penalty has been defined by research which indicated that if an applicant was a mother, employers saw them as less of a capable asset in the workforce (Fox, 2019). This workplace bias can translate into decreased pay when women reenter the workforce after having children (Hess, 2019). In many U.S. households, mothers will take time off work to care for children while fathers remain employed and when the women do return to work they often face the motherhood penalty (Hess,2019). One of the primary reasons that this situation is so common in the United States is because childcare can be expensive (Elle, 2018). In the Brooklyn area, parents could pay sixteen-thousand eight hundred dollars for a single year of childcare (Elle, 2018). To close the gender wage gap in the United States, it is important to look at strategies that could alleviate the cost of childcare and dissolve the motherhood penalty.
For parents, the healthy development of children is often something of extreme value. Child care can be a positive influence on children by keeping them safe and promoting different social skills ("Why is Early Childcare so Important", 2021). For this reason, parents may be interested in seeking the best possible care for their young children. However, the cost of childcare can be a deterrent for low-income families forcing tough conversations about who will have to leave the workforce (Fox, 2019). These tough conversations can result in decisions that reset the vicious cycle of the motherhood penalty (Hess, 2019).
The economic hardships faced by families and single parents highlights the need for affordable childcare in the United States. "Over the last 30 years, childcare costs have increased by 70 percent, which is inconsistent with median wage growth" (Lyons, 2020, par. 2). Publicly funded childcare, also known as Universal childcare, is a potential solution to this problem (Lyons, 2020). "Countries with universal childcare...have high rates of women labor force participation [and if the United States adopted these policies our] economy would grow by $1.6 trillion" (Lyons, 2020, par. 4). Therefore, it is important that we make our leaders aware of the growing need for affordable childcare in the United States.
Advocates looking to support our cause this week can help by contacting President Joe Biden. Our advocates can send an e-mail to the White House using this link. Our goal this week is to send as many submissions as we can to the White House so that we can bring attention to the need for Universal Childcare. In your e-mail, please enclose a link to our blog post and describe the situation at hand. As political representatives, the Presidential Cabinet can work for the betterment of our society when issues are brought to their attention. It is our hope that these letters will catch our representative's attention and bring about real societal change.
References
Contact us. (2021, January 20). Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Division of early childhood. (2021). Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/why-child-care-and-early-education-so-important#:~:text=High%2Dquality%20child%20care%20keeps,their%20lives%20outside%20of%20school%3A&text=Pre%2Dliteracy%20and%20basic%20mathematical,of%20the%20people%20in%20it
Fox, M. (2019, March 25). The 'motherhood penalty' is real, and it costs women $16,000 a year in lost wages. Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/25/the-motherhood-penalty-costs-women-16000-a-year-in-lost-wages.html
Hess, A. (2019, October 16). Women's earnings drop after having a child-but men's do not. Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/16/womens-earnings-drop-after-having-a-childbut-mens-do-not.html
Lyons. (2020, April 10). Narrowing the Gender Wage Gap with Universal Child Care. Retrieved February 22, 2021, from http://mjpa.umich.edu/2020/04/10/narrowing-the-gender-wage-gap-with-universal-child-care/
Media Source
The True Costs of Childcare that no one Tells You [Video file]. (2018, April 13). Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://youtu.be/QXw5dTWgvvs
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