Telling Women's Lives

Unfinished Business – Hannah Lafferrandre

I was struck by Anne Marie Slaughter’s call for the elevation of child care as a profession. This idea can be summed up in the quote “We should think about paid care work, from home health service to therapy to teaching, the same way we think about any other profession, including money management.” Slaughter thinks that childcare is just as noble a profession as any other, but in general, that is not the view held by society. If one parent stays at home, and another works, the one that goes to the office is viewed as doing the more important, vital, or taxing work. However, there is a stigma that goes both ways. The mother that stays at home are looked down upon by the working mothers, and the working mothers are regarded as uncaring, bad mothers by the stay at home moms. On a very basic level, there is an issue of women not supporting each other. My mom stayed at home, and although I never saw women regard her with scorn, some of my friends with working mothers asked me “what does she do all day?” I instantly felt the need to embellish her accomplishments and defend her busy schedule. Of course, not all women are like this, and I would argue that this behavior stems from the legacy of society’s disapproval of them throughout history, and the expectation of perfection in appearance, household tasks, child rearing, and now professional accomplishments.

But Slaughter notes that it is not just the stigma that needs adjustment; there needs to be an actual pay increase in care workers because right now they are being paid minimal wages. But if their pay increases, that means that low to middle class women in the work force will not be able to pay for child care. It is in the interest of lower income women to keep the wages of child care workers low. Cynically, I don’t see how this increase in pay is possible. It is much easier for me to grapple with societal reform than economic.