The Rules Are Not Written For Us
Close the Gap California Volunteer Elizabeth Beheler discusses how the pandemic has exacerbated what was already a strained relationship between mothers and work, and how women are the ones working to fix it.
There is a lot going on right now. I opened the news this morning and was hit with at least five major stories that required focused attention to process. I attempted to do this while being interrupted every five to seven minutes by my ever-present children asking for something.
The economy has visibly taken the nose dive we all knew was looming. This pandemic has made one thing crystal clear: Child care is crucial to our entire society. Everyone agrees that kids need to go back to school as soon as safely possible. The kids need to be in school to learn, but they also need to be in school so parents can get work done again. Because work is not getting done (as well) with the kids at home. I was in a Zoom meeting yesterday and in the corner of the screen, I see my 6-year-old son jumping up and down on the couch in his underwear behind me. The constant split in attention is exhausting and frustrating for all of us, especially mothers.
This image and story from the New York Times really spoke to me:
We know child care is predominantly unpaid work done by women because it’s “our job”. And when we need (or dare to want) “real jobs,” affordable and accessible child care is non-negotiable. Single parents, mothers of color, and families experiencing financial hardship often don’t have good options or any options at all and are disproportionately impacted by policies that don’t support working caregivers. Even with quality options, any parent will tell you how difficult it is week to week (add in school breaks and illnesses, and our eyes glaze over). Yet, even during a pandemic, women have to manage it all.
Just last week Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks was obligated to bring her newborn from Oakland to Sacramento and onto the Assembly floor close to midnight, after her request for a proxy vote was denied. There were progressive bills about housing and child care that were headed for close votes on the last day of session. The Assembly Speaker later apologized that he had not granted her a proxy vote, but the message is a deterrent for a woman considering both having children AND running for office. It reinforces the idea that if she becomes a mother, her professional/political responsibilities will come into conflict with her parenting responsibilities at important times.
We’re now seeing that the pandemic exacerbated what was already a strained relationship between mothers and work.
And women have proven time and again that we are the ones working to address it. The female Senators and Assemblywomen of California (and every other state) have long been the driving force behind child care legislation. Our women legislators have persistently pushed governors throughout history to sign their bills providing and protecting child care.
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson’s 2017 Family Leave bill SB 63, which included 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, expanded family leave to include employees of smaller companies in California. She said at the time, “No one should have to choose between caring for their newborn and keeping their job.” Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry authored 2018’s landmark AB 2292 which was nicknamed “$1-Billion-for-Babies”, and ultimately provided $1 billion in funding for early child care programs throughout California. And just last month, 40,000 California employed child care workers voted to unionize after an almost 20-year effort. They know how vital their work is and that they are undervalued and less protected as a group. The bill that ultimately passed was AB378, authored by Assemblywoman Monique Limón (Note: Assembly District 37 was a Close the Gap California target district in 2016 and we helped recruit Assemblywoman Limón to run for the seat she ultimately won!).
I am so proud that the work I struggle to contribute to will benefit generations of women across the whole state.
Also at the state level, Governor Gavin Newsom is a consistent supporter of child care. In April of this year, Governor Newsom released $100 Million to support child care services for essential workers, half of whom are women. Regarding the current budget, the California Legislative Women’s Caucus (Chaired by Senator Connie Leyva, with members including all nine Close the Gap California Recruits) said,
“The Newsom Administration clearly recognizes the critical importance of parents bonding with their infants during these most formative years, as well as a parent’s ability to access affordable quality child care when they return to work. The Governor’s proposal to significantly increase funding for universal preschool and early childhood education programs, along with six months of paid family leave, makes an important down payment on the future of California’s children, women, and families. The proposed $500 million funding to expand child care opportunities in California will be a vital help for children and working families. The Women’s Caucus is excited to work with the Administration to make sure that these important proposals become reality.”
In Washington, D.C. there are “Moms in the House” events for Congressional Mothers. I look forward to everything these mothers will be able to accomplish from their seats at the table. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi insisted on a different kind of backroom for politicians in the Capitol, a lactation room. Christine Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s daughter and also a mother, chairs the Women’s Caucus of the California Democratic Party alongside Dr. Pratima Gupta, a Close the Gap California Executive Board Member. The Party caucus votes on platform policy including child care.
Moving onto the Presidential campaign stage, specifically to Joe Biden’s newly released $775 billion Caregiving Agenda, we are finally seeing the spotlight shine on child care.
The urgent and central role that child care plays in our national public health and economy can no longer be understated.
“We’re trapped within a caregiving crisis within an economic crisis within a health care crisis,” Biden said.
I celebrate all of this from my little home with my little family. Finally though, I must note that it stings a little because it feels like Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, and Patty Murray gave Joe Biden their homework to copy. All three women are mothers who have extensive knowledge and experience writing child care policy. Warren and Clinton went so far as to make child care policy central pieces of their Presidential candidate platforms, so forgive me for sounding a little bitter.
My preference would be to elect more women up and down the ticket who will author, negotiate for, and sign child care bills on their own for full credit, but the most important thing is that it happens as soon as possible.
If we have any hope of digging out of every single problem we are deeply in right now, child care needs to be the bedrock of that foundation.
Now, if you will please excuse me, I have to go refill the fruit gummies and create logins for several ridiculously named learning apps so both kids can effectively distance learn while I “work” in the next room.
Close the Gap California is committed to building on progressive women’s historic momentum by recruiting them statewide and achieving equality in California by 2028. Join us!
About Close the Gap California
Close the Gap California (CTGCA) is a statewide campaign launched in 2013 to close the gender gap in the California Legislature by 2028. By recruiting accomplished, progressive women in targeted districts and preparing them to launch competitive campaigns, CTGCA is changing the face of the Legislature one cycle at a time.
One in every four women in the Legislature is a CTGCA Recruit. Our Recruits are committed to reproductive justice, quality public education, and combatting poverty, and nine of 10 serving today are women of color.
