Three Easy Ways to Help Working Moms | Get it Girl! Mother’s Day Special

Being a mom in the 21st century comes with many privileges as well as expectations. The biggest one is that we are expected to work as if we didn’t have kids and raise kids as if we didn’t work, which is mathematically impossible.

How can we then support working moms? That’s what our Get it Girls discuss on this Mother’s Day Special.

Among all the topics discussed in this episode, here are three ideas we could start implementing:

1. Have longer maternity leaves. The U.S. is one of the few developed countries that don’t have federal maternity leave, and it leaves all maternity costs to the individual states to figure out.

In Canada and most European countries, maternity leave ranges from six months to three years.

Why not in the USA? That’s because of an old (and very wrong) capitalistic way of thinking: why would the government pay me to have kids? Well, maybe it’s because we’re raising the next generation of taxpayers. Or maybe because working moms have been paying taxes before becoming moms, and it’s only fair they see some of that money in return when they need it the most? (15 years in my case). Also, investing in a healthy generation is better than using that tax money to finance a war ( in my opinion).

If employers had to pay maternity leave out of their pockets, it would create inequality when hiring; employers would much rather hire men than women in childbearing years because it would be more cost-effective—but not if it is the government who takes that load. There are many reasons why even the most capitalistic person should support paid maternity leave for at least six months, and companies and legislators are starting to wake up to it.

2. Job flexibility; whether working from home or bringing the kid to work, those policies help enormously.

3. Every mom needs a tribe to back her up. Be one of those tribe members. Offer to babysit your friend’s kid from time to time, cook her some pancakes, or show up for her. A mother who knows she can count on a network of trustworthy people will be able to focus on her job more and better.

Being a mother is the most demanding and rewarding job ever. Call one of your mom’s friends for this Mother’s Day and show up for her however she needs it. Maybe it is by babysitting, or maybe it is by writing a letter to your legislator demanding reform in maternity leave policies! Little by little, one day, we might become a country where kids and moms have more rights than guns.

Catch the full Get it Girl Mother’s Day Special on the LATV+App Friday after 4 p.m. PST.