mothering

Motherhood is in general more appreciated in the United States but there still lack of respect and tangible recognition. Child-raising is considered the most important job, yet care giving is not only rewarded, but actually penalized. American policy does not reflect its values regarding mother hood. Professional marginalization, a loss of status, and an increased risk of poverty are all some of the negative effects of motherhood.
One study assesses motherhood’s penalty due to mothers choosing or being confined to lower-paying,” mother-friendly” jobs. It also examines whether the motherhood’s penalty varies by marital status since growing number of mothers are single. Many women lose at lease some employment time to child-rearing. Some mothers take time out of employment and loss of work experience affects later wages.
According to human capital theory, losing job experience adversely affects mothers' wages because the mothers are less productive. More practiced workers are more productive, so they are paid more. Loss of job experience negatively affects mothers' wages because the mothers are considered less productive, although it is really other workers are able to be more productive.
One theory about mother’s less pay is because they accept “mother-friendly” jobs. These are able to pay less because they have friendly characteristics such as flexible hours, few demands for travel, and on-site day care. Another explanation is employer discrimination. It is possible that there is no causal effect of motherhood on wages, but rather that some of the same individual characteristics that cause lower earnings for mothers also lead to childbearing at higher rates. In a study between married and non-married mothers, working part- time reduces hourly pay. The penalty for having one child is small and none of it is explained by lost experience. Having a second child has a much larger implications. Women may be more likely to take a break from employment when there are two children at home because the cost of child-care is so high that earnings barely cover it. Marriage increases the child penalty. This suggests that the ratio of time and energy mothers allot to children verses jobs is affected by whether they have a source of financial support other than their own earnings. Husbands provide money that allows married mothers to focus more on their children than single women can. Or they share child-care responsibilities
African-American communities have been centered on the idea that “mothers should live lives of sacrifice has come to be seen as the norm.” For any given historical moment, Black women’s relationship with one another, children, community and self actually take depends on how their dialectical relationship between the severity of oppression facing African-American women and our actions in resisting that oppression is expressed. There are distinct conditions which fostered the appearance of distinctive Black women’s standpoint on mothering including: slavery, Southern rural life, class-stratified, racially segregated neighborhoods of earlier periods of urban Black migration. “Othermothers” are common in African-American communities. They are women who assist bloodmothers by sharing mothering responsibilities-traditionally have been central to the institution of Black motherhood. Extended families are very prevalent in Black families rooting from race, gender, and class oppression. Kin units tend to be woman-centered. It was common for girls to help raise and take care of younger siblings or neighbors children. Many mothers raised their daughters implying to notion that being a African-American female in the world makes for an up-hill battle in life. Motherhood can be invoked as a symbol of power by African-American women engaged in Black women’s work. Much of U.S. Black women’s status in African-American communities stems from their actions of mothering as community othermothers. “Strong Black Women” involvement in community work was an important basis within Black civil society. Protecting black children was a primary concern of African-American mothers. They are at risk for higher infant mortality, poor nutrition, inferior housing, AIDS, violence, and several other social problems.
Modern America still has aspects of a patriarchal system. An example of this is a strong pressure to give children their father’s surname. Although there have been several modifications to the more traditional patriarchal system, there is still a domination of children of women by men. Economic superiority and other privileges of a male-dominated social system make this possible. The idea of the “Genetic Tie” connecting parents to children gives them an equal amount of legal rights over the child. With value being placed on the see, the “real mother” and “real father” are the genetic parents. But with substitution being common today, we can choose a woman to substitute us in a pregnancy. From this arises the question of who is the mother: The one who nurtures it or the one who shares genes. This issue has been seen for a while since historically it has been asked. Women of privilege or wealth hire services of the poor and can buy some of the privileges of patriarchy. They can use bodies of poorer women to “bear offspring.” Today, we hire “substitute mothers.” Baby-sitters, day care, nannies take traditional tasks of mothers. This form of “mother” is highly devalued. Today this is an Oedipus-complex concerning child-care. Mothers seek out good child-care yet feel threatened by it at the same time. But the truth is, a relationship is definitely formed between a child and the person who takes care of him or her. Who is with that child should be thought of not as a substitute-someone else but as a first-person, one-on-one direct relationship to that childe. That position deserves respect and value.
Growing up with a “stay-at-home-mom” I’ve seen first hand the under appreciation of mothering. Child-care was never an option for my mother once all six of us kids (within an 8 year span) needed to be taken care of. It would not have been worth paid child-care for six kids and almost cheaper for my mom to stay at home. My mom went to college and had a career up until she had kids. Because my dad was able to support the family financially, she was able to stay home with us. We were lucky though because my dad still was able to be almost as involved as my mother since his job allowed him to be home with us more days than away.
It is not impossible to have a successful career and still raise kids. But it I not easy and it seems that you end up sacrificing one for the other in many cases. A woman without any children can work overtime and travel without having to worry about taking care of her children. This leads to steady promotions and career building. Yet when one has children, a woman usually can’t travel as much anymore, has to leave work by certain times, and cater to her children. I know many moms who use there sick days for their children and not for themselves. They don’t really have a choice, they need to take care of their kids but work usually doesn’t cater to the needs of employees children.
I found it surprising, yet understandable that a mother’s worth was so high. I can completely see how such a high price is reached, but it is something I don’t think many people really think about. It is so easy for mothers’ work to go unnoticed but they really do a lot. I know some moms who find their work at their jobs easier than work at home.