Here's How Much America Loves Mothers

There are more than 43 million mothers in the United States. This is how we treat them.

We let them die preventable deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth:

Between 1990 and 2013, the maternal mortality ratio for the USA more than doubled from an estimated 12 to 28 maternal deaths per 100 000 births and the country has now a higher ratio than those reported for most high-income countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya and Turkey. About half of all maternal deaths in the USA are preventable.

We let them live in poverty:

More than one in eight women, more than 16.9 million, lived in poverty [in 2015]. Poverty rates were particularly high for families headed by single mothers—1 in 3 (36.5 percent) lived in poverty.

We let them live in poverty while raising very young children:

Close to 1.3 million mothers with very young children—nearly one in five—work in low-wage jobs. Women of color make up more than half of mothers with very young children in low-wage jobs. Almost one-third of mothers who have very young children and work in low-wage jobs are poor. About four in ten mothers who have very young children and work in low-wage jobs are employed full time.

We let them live in poverty while working full-time:

A single parent with two children needs to work the equivalent of three and one half full-time jobs (139 hours per work week), more hours than there are in five days, to earn the living wage on a minimum wage income.

We let their children live in poverty:

More than four in ten U.S. children are living close to the poverty line. In 2014, 44 percent of children under age 18 (31.4 million) lived in low-income households and 21 percent lived in poor families (15.4 million). […]

Children remain more likely than adults to live in poverty. While 44 percent of children live in low-income households, only one-third of adults between 18 and 64 years of age live in these households. In addition, children are more than twice as likely as adults 65 years and older to live in poor families.

We let them go without health insurance:

Single mothers are more likely to be uninsured (16%) than women in two-parent households (9%).

We let their children go without health insurance:

We let motherhood suppress their wages:

When being considered for the same job, mothers were significantly less likely to be recommended for hire, and when they were, they were offered $11,000 less in starting salary, on average, than childless women. Fathers were not penalized at all.

We deny them paid parental leave:

Only 12 percent of U.S. private sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employer.

We deny them paid parental leave while similarly wealthy nations do not:

… the U.S. is the only country among 41 nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents, according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The smallest amount of paid leave required in any of the other 40 nations is about two months.

We deny them paid sick leave:

We let high quality childcare consume their budgets or remain entirely out of reach:

Happy Mother’s Day.