Month: May 2012
Today’s mothers often lack true ‘choice’
Family Forward Oregon’s Communications Director, Lisa Frack, shared her opinions about the false choices mothers facer in the United States in The Portland Tribune (5/17/12).
When I read Peter Korn’s recent article, “Women choose different paths as single mothers” (March 15), I was struck by a word in the title that plagues the entire American conversation about motherhood: choose.
“Choice” is a loaded term in our culture because it implies a woman’s right to choose whether to end a pregnancy. And while the abortion debate has everything to do with motherhood, it is rarely framed that way. The truth is, beyond this initial choice to become a mother when pregnant, mothers experience precious little choice in this country.
The War is ON Moms, Not Between Them
To celebrate Mother’s Day, Family Forward Oregon’s Executive Director, Andrea Paluso, shared her thoughts in The Oregonian about the media hype around the fake “mommy wars,” clarifying, instead, that if there’s a war at all, it’s on moms, not between them.
The High Cost of Child Care
I’ll never forget that first check I wrote to pay for child care. It was so much money! Did you know that in Oregon, child care often costs more than college tuition? That’s right. Full-time infant and toddler care, for example, costs an average of $10,392 a year, while college tuition averages $6,790. And we have 18 or so years to sock money away for college! Not so for child care, which many of us start paying for as soon as six weeks after birth. A shocking reality for most new parents. Read the rest.