Required Reading for Mother's Day

A lot of good thinking is being done around on the country on developing working-family-friendly policies -- from paid family leave to workplace flexibility and universal early education. Some of these will undoubtedly become priority issues for the WFP in subsequent years (the party's hands are full with health care this year).

Why? Here are a couple of reasons:

• The only countries which do not have some kind of government policy providing paid leave to new mothers are… Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and the United States
• Half of all bankruptcy filings in 2001 were related to medical issues.
• Non-mothers make 90 cents to a man's dollar, moms make 73 cents to the dollar, and single moms make 56 to 66 cents to a man's dollar.

To see some of the more interesting thinking, check out some of these articles, manifestos, sites and thinkpieces:

• Nathan Newman at TPM Cafe: How About a Family-Friendly Workplace for Mothers Day?
• Joan Chalmers Williams at TPM Cafe: A good present for Mother's Day? Try economic equality
• MomsRising.org
• Work & Family Bill of Rights at TakeCare.Net