The Lie of the Modern Workforce: Why “Pulling Women In” is NOT the Solution
Amy Devins |
A recent NBC news article entitled “Innovative Program Aims to Increase Childcare Options and Pull Women into the Workforce” details a new in-home daycare system for parents in Alabama. The rest of the article goes on to describe a proposed better way for the state to finance childcare options. It gave me pause from my already-busy Thanksgiving prep day to sit down, reflect, and write about this article, which I believe is misguided on many levels.
It All Sounds Good
“Innovative” sounds good. “Increased options” sounds good. Even “pull women into the workforce” sounds interesting—until you replace the word “women” with “moms” who are actually the real subject of this article… more on that later. The article itself promises to “provide more care options to stressed parents” and “give the workforce a boost.” That doesn’t sound bad in and of itself.
Giving lower-income mothers a way to help their families earn more money was not my issue with the article. As a stay-at-home mom (well, I prefer the term “full-time mom”), I have worked here and there along the way. Nor did I take issue with the suggestion of providing childcare in a homey environment instead of noisy, overstimulating, packed daycares. I had occasionally used a similar in-home system when I was living in Europe and had no family around to watch the kids during a doctor’s appointment or a date night.
The Lie of the Modern Workforce
My issue lies in the article’s emphasis on Alabama needing more workers, its suggestion that mothers should be the ones to fill that void, and that they should be pulled into doing so. There’s the obvious question of, “Why do we insist that mothers not only give birth to our future generations, but also be expected to leave their kids at just a few weeks old, even if they don’t want to?” And then the more subtle way the article seems to shamelessly portray moms as a means to a state’s financial end.
It also seems to suggest that early daycare and schooling are essential and the only ways for children to “turn out okay.” First, assuming that all lower-income and middle-class women are not educated enough to teach their own children is downright false and degrading. And again, this doesn’t address the source of the problem. Instead of telling mothers that the only way their kids will have half a brain is if they hand them over as early and as frequently as possible to complete strangers, why doesn’t society pour more resources into educating parents about caring for, raising, and teaching their children themselves?
Why not focus more effort on creating a society where one-income living is feasible and investing more in supporting healthy relationships between parents while also ensuring women have options if the father leaves, becomes abusive, gets injured, or worse?
For my friends who haven’t been able to “stay home” but desperately want to (and there are many, despite what the media would have you believe), they end up returning to work because of the cost of living and/or fear of relying solely on one person for income. None of them have yet expressed a desire to help the state increase its workforce as their primary motivation for leaving their child in daycare all day, almost everyday.
I don’t have answers to all these questions, but I believe that society desperately needs to continue asking them and pursuing solutions on all sides of the political aisle. I’ll continue to think about it as I get back to teaching my daughter about potato supply chains while we mix mashed potatoes for our frugal Thanksgiving dinner.
Have you experienced the “pull” back into the workforce? Share your creative solutions, thoughts, and advice with your fellow moms by becoming a contributor!
