Family obligations holding women candidates back?
Source: National Press Foundation
Balancing family obligations and public service is a persistent challenge for working mothers in America’s political system, family advocates told the 2024 National Press Foundation Women in Politics Fellowship. They say the system has largely failed to account for childcare and other related responsibilities.
Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder of the Vote Mama Foundation, and Virginia state Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy said additional support is needed, especially for working mothers. The support is required to gain equal access to elective office and other forms of public service.
“So, we are trying to change the structural barriers, trying to change the way that people run, trying to change the way that people serve,” said Grechen Shirley. Her group has been a leading advocate for mothers’ full participation in the nation’s political system. “There is now a very high attrition rate for moms serving in state legislatures… That needs to change.”
Read here the full article published by the National Press Foundation on 29 April 2024.
Image by National Press Foundation
.
Balancing family obligations and public service is a persistent challenge for working mothers in America’s political system, family advocates told the 2024 National Press Foundation Women in Politics Fellowship. They say the system has largely failed to account for childcare and other related responsibilities.
Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder of the Vote Mama Foundation, and Virginia state Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy said additional support is needed, especially for working mothers. The support is required to gain equal access to elective office and other forms of public service.
“So, we are trying to change the structural barriers, trying to change the way that people run, trying to change the way that people serve,” said Grechen Shirley. Her group has been a leading advocate for mothers’ full participation in the nation’s political system. “There is now a very high attrition rate for moms serving in state legislatures… That needs to change.”
Read here the full article published by the National Press Foundation on 29 April 2024.
Image by National Press Foundation
.