Press Release: Take Your Daughters to Work Day Disseminated April 1995; Updated April 1998

"Take Your Daughter to Work Day" events, slated this year for April 23, 1998, should not overlook the fundamental role of women who choose to forgo paid employment to spend time raising their children, according to the national organization Mothers At Home.  Mothers At Home publishes Welcome Home and is in its second decade of offering encouragement and support to at-home mothers.  While Mothers at Home endorses the concept of the event sponsored by The Ms. Foundation for Women in providing children with the opportunity to see firsthand the career opportunities available to them, they suggest that the messages conveyed by events of the day be more balanced.  In a young girl's consideration of lifestyle choices and priorities later in life, she should not feel that motherhood and homemaking are unworthy vocations.

Heidi Brennan, Public Policy Director, states:  "Just as girls benefit from having a learning experience designed just for them, so would they benefit in learning about the special challenges this generation of mothers has faced in painfully trying to balance career and home issues.  The unfinished business of the women's movement is to create recognition and respect for the unpaid, nurturing work of homemakers -- within their families and larger communities -- and to support their successful reentry into satisfying employment opportunities if and when they are ready to do so."

For many women, becoming a mother will present them with a special opportunity:  to make nurturing their children a priority for a season or more of their lives.  This choice is made today by millions of American mothers who come from a full array of occupations and professions.  They include engineers, physicians, accountants, and lawyers.  Unfortunately, many in our society often ignore the career "sequencing" paths* of these women.  Young girls are entitled to a presentation of the issues related to balancing career and motherhood.  Obvious questions deserve answers:  "If I spend some time at home with my children, will I ever catch up in my professional career?"  "Will my education be wasted?"  "Will my children really need me?" These are the hard questions of our times:  both for today's mothers and those of tomorrow.

On a day designed to provide insight to our children, Mothers at Home suggests that we include discussions of the following issues:
 

• Why is success too often defined solely in terms of wages earned outside the home?   If the purpose of the event is to increase self-esteem and confidence regarding important choices young girls will make later in life, it is crucial that they observe successful adults who find their work enriching and rewarding, regardless of the type of work chosen.
• Why is the myth that there is nothing of redeeming value in the crucial work of today's mothers and homemakers perpetuated?   We all need to contribute to a renewed respect for childrearing.  It requires more time, intelligence and skill than members of this generation have been led to believe.
• Why isn't there a realistic dialogue with children about the challenges of mothering and balancing career and family?  More attention should focus on the varied, creative employment opportunities men and women have designed to allow personalized care for their children.  Discussions about options such as telecommuting, home-based work, job-sharing, flexible schedules, part-time positions, child-inclusive central work sites and motherhood sabbaticals are important.  We validate the importance of nurturing when we share with our children the changes that we as parents make in our work lives to spend more time with them.  Perhaps it is that time spent that most ensures strong self-esteem in our girls and our boys.

On this April 23 and throughout the coming year, let's encourage discussion of the options and the realities of career and family time. All children need to know that success can  -- and does -- include time spent devoting talents, education and skills to the next generation.

   * Sequencing by Arlene Rossen Cardozo (Collier/MacMillan, 1986).