September 29th Class

“The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued”

by Ann Crittenden

The introduction of this book reveals the point that author is trying to convey is writing this book: the idea that a woman’s work in the home and childrearing has two sides, one that is revered and valued and the other that is seen as negative. That is to say that a caregiver’s work is something that is not paid work and often times, it is not even recognized as being a job. Yet, how women raise the young and see after children is seen as something necessary and valuable socially.

“The job of making a home for a child and developing his or her capabilities is often equated with “doing nothing.” (p. 2) This is the idea that a women’s work, though not a job related to monetary compensation, that it is in fact not a job. And it is not only adults that think this, but “Even our children have absorbed the cultural message that mothers have no stature. A friend of mine gave up a job she loved as the head of a publishing house in order to raise her daughter. One day, when she corrected the girl, the child snapped, ‘Why should I listen to you? You’re just a housewife.’” (p. 3) This story shows how ingrained the idea that a caregiver’s work is seen as not work by all parts of society.

Not only this, but it can been seen as a lack of a job and negative towards future employment opportunities. “‘[Moreover] during periods of non-participation, the human capital stock suffers from additional depreciation due to a lack of maintenance.’” (p. 4) That is to say that a woman’s economic value is depreciated the more time she spends at home with her children. The job is an integral part of the future of our society, yet it is seen as being of the least importance even though, “almost 100 percent of the primary caregivers of young children are still women.” (p. 7)

One statistic that really stood out to me was the fact that if a mother’s work was paid, then she should be earning anywhere from $100,000 to around $500,000 for the work she does. That is a well paying job and the amount of work that a woman normally has to complete is a lot, yet, society does not see it as being of value. The author of the book comments on the difficulty of motherhood by saying, “Being a good-enough mother, I found, took more patience and inner strength – not to mention intelligence, skill, wisdom, and love – than my previous life ever demanded.” (p. 11)

There is no doubt in my mind that raising a child must be difficult, but I feel like it is an outdated practice. Most families that I know of that have two parents under the same roof, have two incomes. Not only that, but they share a good deal of the work inside and outside of the home. This may be a product of the very liberal community that I am from, but sharing housework and doing outside work is still doable. That being said, for a woman that does take care of children, though it is a risk especially with the high divorce rates of modern society, must be rewarding for the number of hours put in. I also do not think that women should be paid for this, but I do agree with the idea that society should recognize it as a legitimate job.

“The Wage Penalty for Motherhood”

by Michelle Budig and Paula England

This study is trying to explain the relationship between motherhood and low wages. It uses five explanations to describe why mothers tend to get lower wages due to childrearing. The five reasons are:

“First, many women spend time at home caring for children, interrupting their job experience, or at least interrupting full-time employment. Second, mothers may trade off higher wages for “mother friendly” jobs that are easier to combine with parenting. Third, mothers may earn less because the needs of their children leave them exhausted or distracted at working, making them less productive. Fourth, employers may discriminate against mothers. Finally, perhaps the association is not really a penalty resulting from motherhood and its consequences at all. (p. 204)

The idea of human capital is an integral part of understanding lower wages due to lack of job experience. People accumulate human capital or a kind of social worth by working and participating in the labor force. This is the idea that “experience and seniority have positive returns because they involve on-the-job training that makes workers more productive.” (p. 205) That is to say, women who take time off of being employed to take care of their children have less job experience and do not move up in the ranks of a job quickly. Also, experience is linked to productivity, because experience brings practice and more knowledge of the job and without this experience, a worker cannot be more productive; the more productive a worker is the more he/she gets paid.

Many mothers also opt to be a part of “‘mother-friendly’” jobs. (p. 207) That is to say, jobs that have “flexible hours, few demands for travel or weekend or evening work, on-site day care, or availability of a phone to check on children.” (p. 207) Another characteristic of the “‘mother-friendly’” job is the ability to work part-time. These jobs are in exchange for the possibility of a more demanding, full-time job.

Another idea behind this is that employers discriminate against women because of their “motherhood status.” (p. 208) Motherhood has the potential to be very demanding if the woman in a family has to take primary responsibility for the child. Women use sick days at work to take care of children, or they need to be able to be in contact with school or after schools or babysitters, etc. This can take a lot away from a person’s job experience. And, as we talked about before, the ideal worker is one that has no distractions from the job at hand and can commit completely to over-time, late hours, and long days.

From the study that the two authors completed, they determined that a “wage penalty for motherhood of approximately 7 percent per child among young American women.” (p. 219) Not only this but, “Roughly one-third of the penalty is explained by years of past job experience and seniority, including whether past work was part time.” (p. 219) The rest of the two-thirds remains without taking into account part-time past job experience. And in order to be more accurate, in the future, they would need more research on job characteristics especially jobs that are cohesive with a demanding parenting experience.

In my opinion, taking time off of work is hard and does take a lot away from a woman’s job experience which today is a way to get ahead in our society: to get more and more job experience and move up in the ranks. But I do believe that there are ways to work around having to take time off of work and still get job experience. Even I think that individuals such as males can take time off work too, so the blow is not just focused on a woman. Many families nowadays need two incomes to stay afloat especially due to the state of the current economy. So, having two working individuals, though it may take away from parenting, in many cases, is a necessity anyway.

“Black Women and Motherhood”

by Patricia Hill Collins

There are certain images that are associated with black motherhood. For example, the image of the “superstrong Black mother.” (p. 174) These images are of strong black women that devote all their time to raising children. This image is even evident in the praise that many black men give to their mothers as being strong individuals that raised them. But there are other images as well. For example, the images of “the mammy, the matriarch and the welfare mother” are designed to “oppress” black women. (p. 176)

Also, there is the idea of different types of mothers in the black community. For example, bloodmothers are mothers that give birth to their children, but an idea central in the black community is that of what the author calls, “othermothers.” (p. 178) Othermothers are individuals (usually with ties of kinship) that help the bloodmother to raise her children. These people can be cousins, aunts, siblings, grandparents or even friends within the black community. And this idea of othermothers is very integral to the rearing of black children, according to the author. For example, “Children orphaned by sale or death of parents under slavery, children conceived through rape, children of young mothers, children born into extreme poverty or to alcoholic or drug-addicted mothers, or children who for other reasons cannot remain with their bloodmothers have all been supported by othermothers…” (p. 180)

Also, a controversial idea is the idea of sexual politics in being a black mother. “Mothers have ensured their daughters’ physical survival, but at the high cost of their emotional subordination.” (p. 183) That is to say that, “African-American mothers place a strong emphasis on protection, either by trying to shield their daughters as long as possible from the penalties attached to their derogated status or by teaching them skills of independence and self-reliance so that they will be able to protect themselves.” (p. 186)

Also, the idea of othermothers even stems from the extended family to the community as well. “These women not only feel accountable to their own kin, they experience a bond with all of the Black community’s children.” (p. 189) Many black women become “schoolteachers, nurses, social workers, and librarians[… and also] political and social leaders.” (p. 190) These ideas of community bonding not only extends from the family, but to the community as a whole.

Even though black motherhood here is seen as a source of empowerment and community building, but it can also been as a source of pain and troubles. Many black women especially those women from poorer communities cannot support children. On page 196, there was the story of the mother who has gotten pregnant and tried to take care of the situation herself and ended up killing herself with turpentine. This is an example of how mothering can be burdensome and how many poor families have no other way to get around it, especially in a community that has pronatalist values.

All these ideas on black community and mothering are something that many not only be innate in the black community. I come from an area in Cambridge where the Hispanic community is very strong. And when I was younger, many times my grandmother or aunt or uncle would take care of my sister and I. This many not be something just particular to the black community, but it may be indicative of a minority community in the United States. I feel like especially when your family is from another country, then all your family that is from there but in the local vicinity, the bonds you form with your kin can be really strong.

“Women as Fathers: Motherhood and Child Care under a Modified Patriarchy”

by Barbara Katz Rothman

This reading talks about the ties between mothers and fathers and their young. There used to be a system of patriarchy where the father was the main caregiver, but nowadays there has been a shift from a father figure to a mother as the primary caregiver. In today’s world, “women are said to own their babies, have “rights” to them, just as men do: based on their seed.” (p. 91) But the relationships between mother and child are not just genetic. But instead, “The parent-child relationship is invested with social and legal rights and claims that are not recognized, in patriarchal societies, in any other genetic relationship, because that genetic connection was the basis for men’s control over the children of women.” (p. 93) That is to say that there is more than just genetic ties that connect parents, especially mothers, to their children.

The reading also states that “For men, what makes the child his is his seed. For women, what makes the child ours is the nurturance, the work of our bodies.” (p. 96) That is to say that men have rights to their children for the sole fact that they passed on genetic material whereas women are the caregivers of the children and thus form that bond. A bond between mother and child is usually very strong and through her nurturance of that child, a woman has rights to it.

Not only this, but when dealing with caregivers, many mothers usually want their child to identify with them rather than the person taking care of them. For example, many women hire babysitters or nannies to take care of the children when the parents cannot. But “The mother wants the child to identify with her, not the caregiver.” (p. 99) But whether that relationship is mother to child or caregiver to child, “The emotional work of mothers done without pay, or the emotional work of hired caregivers done for a salary, is a more intense version of the flight attendant’s work, with the similar goal of creating a state of mind in others – just that sense of being safe and cared for.” (p. 101)

In my opinion, the bond between parent and child does not need to even be genetic, but it is the bond created with the person that raises you. Families today are not just families created by two individuals having a child, there is adoption or individuals that live with extended families, so the face of parenting is very different and the person one identifies as their “parents” may not be their parents genetically. Also, I think the work of caregivers should receive more credit. They are taking care for children for their parents. Their parents are passing on their responsibilities for rearing their child to someone else, in essence, they are paying for someone to take their place.