Maternal Profiling
NEW YEAR'S POP QUIZ: What's Maternal Profiling?
a. The practice of selling stiff undergarments that promise a return
to one's pre-pregnancy profile.
b. How the Oprah Show executives determine their prime demographic.
c. Employment discrimination against a woman who has, or will have,
children.
d. Routine stop and searches of swerving minivans to check if violence
is being perpetrated via flying food between minors.
ANSWER: c. Maternal Profiling was reported on as one of the new
buzzwords of 2007 in the New York Times (and members of MomsRising
were credited with introducing this term into our national consciousness!).
They defined it as:
"Employment discrimination against a woman who has, or will
have, children. The term has been popularized by members of MomsRising,
an advocacy group promoting the rights of mothers in the workplace."
SPREAD THE WORD: Join us in our New Year's resolution to help stamp
out Maternal Profiling. Share this term with friends and family
by forwarding this email, read about how others experience Maternal
Profiling on our blog, and if you're so moved, share your story
of Maternal Profiling at the end of the blog as well.
Click here to read more about Maternal Profiling, including how
it impacts you & comment on our blog: http://www.momsrising.org/node/710
This new phrase is powerful because it brings forward a shared
experience--helping to frame national understanding of the causes
of and solutions to discrimination against mothers. Sexual harassment
is a phrase which helped spark major legislative and cultural changes.
Widespread use of the phrase "Maternal Profiling" can
similarly help spark major changes.
And major changes are needed. One recent study found that mothers
are 79% less likely to be hired than non-mothers with equal resumes
and job experiences. Mothers also face discrimination in their paychecks:
Women without children make 90 cents to a man's dollar, but mothers
make only 73 cents to a man's dollar, and single mothers make about
60 cents to a man's dollar. Working together, we can stamp out Maternal
Profiling and make our nation more truly family-friendly.
NEED AN EXCITING PARTY CONVERSATION STARTER? Use this Pop Quiz
as a conversation starter at parties, and as an easy way to share
the term with friends (You can test friends at parties, see if friends
can make their own definitions while midnight confetti is falling,
and try it out on relatives). The more people who understand and
use the word, the faster we'll be able to stop the practice. Let's
get rid of it!
Have a very Happy New Years!
- Mary, Cooper, Kristin, Joan, Nanette, Donna, Anita, Katie
-------So what is Maternal Profiling really? And is it happening
to you and your friends?------
Sadly, the answer to the second question is, yes, if you're a mother
in America, then Maternal Profiling has likely happened to you.
Maternal Profiling is a significant and shared problem which negatively
impacts vast numbers of women in our nation, particularly since
a full 82% of American women become mothers by the time they are
forty-four years old. And, the workplace impacts of Maternal Profiling
are jaw dropping, especially given that three-quarters of American
mothers are now in the labor force.
In fact, the American Journal of Sociology recently reported a
study which found that mothers are 79% less likely to be hired than
non-mothers with equal resumes and job experiences. (Sadly, that
wasn't a typo. The study really found that mothers are 79% less
likely to be hired.)
Mothers also face steep wage hits and unequal wages for equal work.
One study found that women without children make 90 cents to a man's
dollar, but mothers make only 73 cents to a man's dollar, and single
mothers make about 60 cents to a man's dollar.
Fortunately, we know how to narrow these wage gaps and how to stop
Maternal Profiling. Countries with family-friendly policies in place--such
as paid family leave after the birth of a child and subsidized childcare--don't
have the same degree of maternal wage hits as we do here. That's
one of the reasons why MomsRising is fighting for family-friendly
policies, as well as for laws that protect mothers and other caregivers
from discrimination in the workplace. Cultural change is another
way to help stop Maternal Profiling: The more people who become
aware of what are often subconscious discriminatory actions, the
less often those discriminatory actions will happen. So it's important
that as many people as possible learn about the widespread practice
of Maternal Profiling.
*Take a moment to help spread the word (literally!) to friends
and family by forwarding them our Pop Quiz.
P.S. Don't forget to get more details about Maternal Profiling
and share your experiences at the end of that blog by clicking here:
http://www.momsrising.org/node/710
P.P.S. Read the recent New York Times article which includes Maternal
Profiling and MomsRising here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/weekinreview/23buzzwords.html
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