In 2012, Anne Marie Slaughter write an article in The Atlantic (Why Women Still Can’t Have It All) that exploded on and off the internet, igniting a national dialog about the state of women in the United States, specifically around women and work and family and changes that are needed to make work work for women and mothers. In this Mother’s Day 2013 follow-up piece, How to Make the U.S. a Better Place for Caregivers, Slaughter outlines a blueprint for a family friendly economy that is very similar (if not identical!) to what we’ve been working on at Family Forward oregon for several years now. Slaughter offers this summary of what we need – and why, before diving into the details of a Caring Economy that includes quality, affordable childcare, paid family leave, paid sick time, flexible work, and more:
“…the United States lags behind almost all other industrialized countries in providing the goods, services, and incentives that make it possible for women and men to be caregivers as well as breadwinners. What mothers need, as well as fathers, spouses, and the children of aging parents, is an entire national infrastructure of care, every bit as important as the physical infrastructure of roads, bridges, tunnels, broadband, parks and public works.”
This great video from our national partner, Caring Across Generations, explains what we mean by “care”: