Baby steps: Duckworth breaks barrier
A bit of good news in our nation’s capital this week provided a welcome change of pace in the news cycle: Making history, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth brought her newborn daughter along for a vote on the Senate floor.
Duckworth is the first senator to give birth while in office. She’s also currently the only senator who requires a wheelchair (she’s a combat veteran who lost both legs while serving in Iraq). Which means that one of the initial proposals made by some male senators — that she vote from the Senate’s cloakroom — not only insulting but unfeasible. The cloakroom, despite it being 2018, is not wheelchair accessible.
Happily, the Senate did at least change its longstanding rules to allow children (up to 1 year of age) onto the Senate floor. It’s a move in the right direction that signals a more welcoming atmosphere for potential lawmakers.
The Senate still only has 22 women out of 100 members — a record in its history —serving to represent a country that’s 50.8% female.
Point is, our government bodies are far too slow when it comes to family-friendly and more equitable workplace policies. They’re a reflection of our country atlarge. Lots of workplaces are not at all friendly to bringing small children along, and many people simply can’t afford to take time off from work to care for newborns.
According to a 2016 report by New America, the average yearly cost for childcare is $9,589 — higher than the $9,410 average cost for in-state college tuition. That means that in at least four states, including Wisconsin, average childcare costs exceed median rent. In 11 other states, people are paying more than 90 times median rent to pay for fulltime childcare.
The United States is just one of a small handful of UN countries without national paid parental leave. It’s up to individual employers to decide if and how much paid leave new parents get, and access varies wildly, with just 11% of civilian employees having access to any kind of paid leave.
Women the world over and since the beginning of time have more than managed to balance the demands of child-rearing with other life tasks large and small. Not only should giving birth not force us out of public life, the presence of babies in lawmaking bodies might actually force people to consider the ramifications of certain laws a little more seriously.
Women still face discrimination simply for becoming pregnant, or even for the potential of becoming pregnant, in many workplaces.
Anyone who’s raised kids knows how much multitasking, communication, compromise, deal-making, discipline, and creativity it requires. Those are all qualities I would want in an employee or lawmaker.
We have more work to do as a culture to free ourselves of sexist notions. Women are not weak, and parenthood shouldn’t exclude people from public life. It benefits all of society to create a nationwide system of paid family leave, equal pay, and supportive workplace rules. Kudos to the Senate for taking baby steps toward that ideal.
Emily Mills is a freelance writer who lives in Madison.