Hillary = Family Values
October 23, 2007 by Tracee Sioux
Filed under Parenting
If you think more mothers should be in the home then you should vote for Hillary. Yes, I mean you Conservative Republicans.
Women work. That’s a fact. But, at this point mothers are all making Sophie’s Choice (A “Sophie’s Choice” is a tragic choice between two unbearable options based on the 1979 novel by William Styron).
Choosing between working and staying-at-home is a choice between two extremes that suck for everyone in the family.
American parents have twenty-two fewer hours a week to spend with their kids than they did back in 1969. And 67 percent, two-thirds of all of working parents say they do not have enough time with their children, Hillary said in a speech.
Is that because women started working? No. It’s because American’s don’t value motherhood and nurturing enough to have family-friendly employment policy.
You know, the sad fact is that our country is only one of a handful of countries that don’t guarantee a legal right to paid maternity leave. And in the US only 7 percent of men have access to paid paternity leave, and less than 20 percent of women with a high school degree receive paid maternity leave. Now, for professional women, the story is somewhat better. Access to paid leave has steadily risen — from 14 percent in the 1960s to 63 percent in the 1990s, she said.
The Family Medical Leave Act is better than nothing, but not by much. It doesn’t apply to all Americans for one thing (doesn’t apply to small businesses). It’s unpaid for another. And to top it all off it’s laughably short (6-12 weeks) when considering life transitions, like welcoming a child into a family or caring for a sick relative.
Really, everyone thinks society would be a lot better if there were more face-time between parent and child (yeah, you too Dads). And I see one candidate who has an actual plan to make that wish a reality and her name is Hillary. Since no one can find the rewind button on feminism and women in the workforce, I think it’s time we decided where we want it to go from here.
And certainly a lot of women who are employed with children, more than 60% would prefer to work part time, but that’s not in the cards, because it’s hard to manage that and it often doesn’t pay enough to make it work for them, she said.
I think the answer lies in more family-friendly employment policy. Read her speech here. Though not completely sold on Hillaryland, Elizabeth over at Career and Kids is talking about Hilary’s agenda for working families too. Elizabeth thinks the plan sounds great, but she’s just not sure she can see the plan happening.
I would point out that the economy of America would crumble without the working woman at this point. So, it’s time the American Family stood up and demanded what we need.
That sounds like a great idea, and it might be. However, when voting for President, there are SOO many OTHER issues to deal with, and when considering those, Hillary just isn’t the best choice.
There are a lot of issues. I’m most interested in the ones that are going to directly effect my family’s life. But, I suppose different people have different values. It will be an interesting election.
Certainly we are concerned first and foremost with our immediate needs. For instance, Hillary wants to pass a nationalized healthcare. That means that the government- who is NOT good at social security processing, welfare processing, or any other kind of efficiency- is going to be handling YOUR healthcare and YOUR family healthcare. So your daughter or son needs surgery? You can’t get it until the huge government beauracracy can process your paperwork…. talk about a backlog! The programs they currently operate have nowhere NEAR the people enrolled that a nationalized healthcare would have. To me, that’s a huge issue that affects all of our families.
I don’t share your perception of our government as inept. The roads I drive on are great. Frankly, I think the insurance companies are far worse at organization and efficiency than the gov.
Also American Citizens have no power with insurance companies. They are not required to answer to the people – they can pretty much do whatever they want. Including denying your claim for your hypothetical son’s surgery.
The government is required to answer to it’s people. We have way more power to decide how the health system works if we have the power to hire and fire the beaurocracy.
Yes, here’s how universal health care will effect my family personally – my sick, uninsurable mother-in-law will have healthcare. Thus relieving me of the massive burden. I’ll be able to take my kids to the doctor for x-rays just in case instead of waiting to make sure their foot is broken first. I’ll be able to get the medication I am prescribed for allergies because it will no longer be a luxury.
And if the beaurocracy screws it up – as you’re so sure it will – well, at least I have the power to vote the leaders out and get someone who can do the job better.