Parenting Out Loud: Bringing Moms Back to Family Friendly Workplaces (VIDEO)

Meng and Eve Rodsky New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play engaged in a conversation with Ronda Carnegie Chief Innovation Officer at The Female Quotient and were candid about how it took a global pandemic to bring caregiving and mental health crises to the forefrontquotWhat keeps me up at night is that in America 70 of our one percent the people who make our decisions in government and the workplace are white men with stayathome wivesquot said Rodsky quotSo that lived experience is the lived experience of our leadership They39re making policies for the rest of us that don39t work for the rest of us We need to parent out loud We need to have flexibility over our schedules decide how we work and when we workquotRodsky has been losing sleep since 2011 when she began to focus her work on the gender division of unpaid labor In 2018 when she wanted to publish a book on the topic she said editors weren39t interested quotWhat are you talking about Women aren39t one crisis away from leaving the workplace Women are in a great place We have more women in the workplace than menquotWe39re finequot they told her Then the pandemic happened quotand it was a terrible way to teach a lessonquotRodsky said we need to blow up all our systems and start again One of the things she has been advocating for is to have quotunpaid laborquot such as child care and household responsibilities be included in the US GDP by 2030Carnegie zoned in on the hot topic of talent retention during a time when the phrase quotthe great resignationquot sounds like the next plague about to hit us quotWhat is it going to take to keep women in the workforcequot she asked quotThis rebalancing what can companies do What should they be askingquotquotThree words Who makes decisions That39s itquot Rodsky replied quotWho makes the decisions in your company When I ask companies that question it39s hard for them to answerquotquotAnd what are the immediate things the private sector should be doingquot asked CarnegiequotAs women we appreciate Women39s History Month and as an AsianAmerican I appreciate Lunar New Year celebrations but more important than that is flexibilityquot said Meng quotProvide flexibility and policies that incentivize employees to be productive and help working families return to the labor forcequotMeng recently introduced a bill to the House the Honoring FamilyFriendly Workplaces Act which seeks to incentivize businesses to provide a healthier and easier worklife balance for both men and women through a certification process similar to how the EPA Energy Star program helps consumers identify energyefficient products The bill identifies policies such as childcare subsidies paid sick days lactation support referrals for fertility and adoption services and paid family leave of at least 12 weeks a year as solutionsIt follows the Marshall Plan for Moms a measure she introduced in February spurred by the more than two million women who dropped out of the workforce since the pandemic began quotWe need to make sure we39re not just restoring what we were before the pandemic but that we39re building back betterquot Meng assertedHow do you rectify that Rodsky said we have to change who makes decisions in this country and not make it harder for those that look differently than others Flexibility equal pay it requires men to do their share of housework and childcare quotI39m not an angry feministquot she insisted quotFair Play is a love letter to men because the system isn39t working for anybodyquotMeng agreed saying we need to have more women and moms at the table where decisions are being made quotWe celebrate the diversity of Congress yet over 80 of my colleagues are malequot she said quotWe are still very far from where we need to bequotReferring to the infrastructure legislation that is being played across so many cable news networks Meng said quotWe39re also talking about the other half of that legislation which is reconciliation and investing in the care economy Women legislators have told senior leadership amp8216You can build all the bridges roads and highways you want but if you don39t have moms going to work and traveling on those roads and bridges it39s pointless39 These two pieces of legislation go handinhandquotMeng also stressed the importance of the media and private sector working together to make a difference quotBlack Lives Matter Stop Asian Hate when you have media partnering with leaders in the private sector amp8230 that has provided so much changequot she said quotAs has support for nonprofits that help our vulnerable communities and making sure voices are being heard where legislation is being proposedquot She encouraged folks to continue to speak up during this inflection point in our country39s historyquotMedia can be an agnostic force for good or a place that does harmquot Rodsky noted reminding us to be mindful of the messages we put out there and to keep this mantra in mind quotDo no harmquotMediaVillage and AdvancingDiversityorg founder Jack Myers chimed in on the chat quotThe industry once invested in a Family Friendly Programming initiative A Family Friendly Workplaces program is an incredible opportunity for the advertising community to invest in its own futurequotLet39s do itClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Parenting Out Loud: Bringing Moms Back to Family Friendly Workplaces (VIDEO)

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