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Paid Family Leave

Who Needs More Women in Government? Dads.

June 17, 2010
As the first-time mother of an 8-month-old, I’m often concerned with making the world better for my daughter as she grows up. But every day, I also realize that I’m not in this struggle alone. Not only are there millions of moms out there trying to figure out how to balance work, a personal life,...

Survey: Who clips their nails?

June 15, 2010
Studies show today’s fathers are doing significantly more child care and housework than their fathers did. Here’s my question: Are these dads just folding more laundry, or are they also taking responsibility for the complicated logistics of family life? And here’s my other question: Do heterosexual...
Katrina Alcorn's picture

Herd feelings

June 2, 2010
Working mothers are not crackheads. Having children is not just another lifestyle choice. If we want to keep this little human experiment going, then we need a sizable chunk of the population to keep having children.
Katrina Alcorn's picture

A mother of a day

May 11, 2010
I can't think of a better way to say this. I had a truly crappy Mother's Day this year. I think Anna Jarvis would understand. Inspired by her own mother's life, she started a campaign in 1907 to recognize mothers for their contribution to society. She was successful in making Mother's Day a...
Katrina Alcorn's picture

Moms: We need more women in government!

May 7, 2010
As the Vice President and Political Director of the Women's Campaign Forum (WCF), I'm obviously a believer in electing more women to public office. However, as a first-time mother with a 7 month-old baby girl, my commitment to increasing women's political leadership has never been stronger. Sure, I...

Holy Paid Family Leave, Batgirl!

April 13, 2010
"If we got even two calls from our constituents about this letter, that would make a huge impression on the Senator," a Senate staff person recently told us. She was referring to a letter circulating in the halls of the Senate that, if only a handful of Senators sign it, could have broad reaching...

Champion Real Workplace Flexibility

April 6, 2010
The White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility has generated an energetic buzz in work family advocacy circles across the nation. As a longtime advocate for family friendly workplaces, I am thrilled by First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama's keen interest and commitment to build and...

Michelle Obama: "It doesn't have to be this way"

April 2, 2010
"Many folks don't have access to any kind of family leave policies whatsoever, no flexible working arrangements, many people don't even have a paid sick day. So they are struggling…scrambling to make things work…As we all know, here today, it just doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be...

Unpaid parental leave - How are US families faring?

March 30, 2010
Parental leave with pay when a child is born or adopted is an important support for working families, yet most US private sector workers do not have this benefit. Human Rights Watch ( www.hrw.org ), a nongovernmental human rights group, is interviewing parents in the US about their experiences with...
Janet Walsh's picture

EU: Don't Force Women to Stay Home!

March 12, 2010
The European Union Commission has proposed a new directive, to be voted on in March, that would make maternity leave compulsory for the first six weeks after a woman gives birth. You read that correctly -- compulsory. As in, women would be forced to stay home, regardless of their own wishes, if...

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