Rebelstork’s Post

As part of our ongoing commitment to honor International Women’s Day (IWD), for International Women's Day 2024, we’re proud to announce our brand partnership with Bobbie, the U.S.’ first and only mom-founded and women-led infant formula company. We are partnering with Bobbie on their ‘Parents Push Harder’ campaign to advocate for Paid Leave for All.    Bobbie has teamed up with Naomi Osaka, a first-time mom, Bobbie MotherBoard member and four-time Grand Slam Champion, to form the Naomi Osaka (N.O.) Support Grant Coalition. We are thrilled to share that we have joined our friends at Bobbie and are an official member of the N.O. Support Grant Coalition.     The N.O. Support Grant Coalition is a group of brands and individuals helping families impacted by the lack of federal paid leave. Together, we are helping to provide 200 families nationwide with $580 microgrants. Why $580? It is the minimum amount the Family and Medical Act—the current federal paid leave program in front of Congress—would provide as a monthly benefit. The money given to grantees will be used by them for essential goods, rent, diapers and food for their families.     It doesn’t end or begin with us. It’s time to influence others to join us to take action and be a part of this coalition making change. Learn more about the coalition (link in comments).   We believe simple means access to essential goods, bridging the equity gap and paid leave for all, especially for families to have invaluable time together when a new child is born.  #IWD2024 #InspireInclusion #Bobbie #ParentsPushHarder #ItTakesUsAll #ChampioningCommunityforChange #BrandPartnership

If I got paid for every hour spent homeschooling my kids, taking care of my ailing mother, figuring out what to do with our appliances that seem to be breaking down in sequence with enviable persistence... I'd probably be able to buy a small island. Or, at least, a new home with all new major appliances already installed. But hey, I'm not on here to throw a pity party. Instead, it's to spotlight an issue we all know exists, yet we tiptoe around it, i.e.: if #women in the US got compensated for their #caregiving #work, we'd be pocketing an additional $627 BILLION a year. Let that sink in. Personally, I clock in way more than the average "52 minutes a day" the report talks about. And believe me, as a woman #founder juggling the roles of mom, daughter, and partner, those minutes add up. Do I do it for the potential money? Of course not. Do I do it out of love and a sense of duty? Absolutely. But here's the rub: that doesn't mean it isn't costly. While I'm blessed with a fantastic husband and a rockstar network, it's essential to highlight the evident disparity. #workingmoms (like yours truly) often earn less, face more career setbacks, and are more likely to shoulder the caregiving role. The result? A cumulative wage gap that has cost American female workers a jaw-dropping $61 TRILLION since 1967. This isn’t just a “women’s issue.” This is an issue for every husband, brother, father, and friend out there. A fairer world isn't just my dream; it should be OUR collective goal. Why? Because the kids I'm homeschooling today are the leaders of tomorrow. The lessons they learn now, about fairness, #equity, and respect, will shape our world's future. So, on the eve of #MomsEqualPayDay, let's not just strive for equal pay. Let's strive for acknowledgment, respect, and appreciation for the countless invisible hours women pour into caregiving. Because when one of us rises, we all rise. #PayTheMoms #WageGap #WomenInLeadership #EconomicEquality

Officially, I can shout it from the rooftops with real, nerdy numbers: 🤓 Benefits and policies that support working caregivers have an 18x R.O.I. 🤓 42% of parents who considered leaving their job in the last year stayed specifically because of their employer’s support of their caregiving. 🤓 Parent-friendly policies boost productivity and parents are biz dev heroes. 🤓 9 out of 10 working parents would choose an ongoing child care stipend over immediate cash. 🤓 In 2024, child care benefits and paid leave are more important to job seekers than a 401k! And there are so many more. The numbers and stories in this white paper "The R.O.I. of Caregiving Benefits" -- a proud collaboration between The Fifth Trimester and Vivvi -- represent six months of quantitative and qualitative reporting that I know will help rewrite the narrative on working parents and the economic win of supporting them (and change cultural norms so we codify these basic rights as public policy accessible to all!!). 💥 Moms and dads, it turns out, are motivated to do meaningful, productive, profitable work specifically *because* of their kids, not in spite of them. 💥 Companies that support that work with parental leave, child care benefits, and ramp-up programs are not doing so just because it's the right thing to do (duh, yes!) but also because it's a business imperative. It pays off! Using an original survey and 10 deep case studies across a diversity of industries and family structures, we looked at how parents used their benefits...and what they delivered right back to their employers (times 18!!). I am thrilled to share the full report. And so, so grateful for my research partners at Vivvi, especially Lauren Hobbs and Jessica Pallay, and the employers that shared so openly in our case studies, including, Bobbie, PwC, Etsy, Phreesia, Avenues The World School, Feminist Women's Health Center (Atlanta), theSkimm and more. And don't miss the gorgeous data viz by Amanda Makulec. Okay, Oscar speech over. Please read and share! https://lnkd.in/eEFznZCw

Whoa! Data to backup what we know to be true - organizations investing in parental support serves the #business AND is the right thing to do. I hope #leaders and #employees looking for #data to back their proposals and recommendations for increased #parental support can use this. #workingparents #workingmothers #coaching

11.3X ROI. That’s the return on investment Lauren Smith Brody and the Vivvi team found when they interviewed my husband, dad, and scientist Michael Kierny, PhD on the caregiver supports available at AstraZeneca. Here are 3 not-so-obvious-but-so-important ways he (and in turn, his company) benefitted: 1️⃣ “Networking…At the Day Care”!:  Turns out, day care drop-off / pick-up can also be a networking opportunity – imagine that! We often hear about the accidental run-ins in the hallway or at the proverbial water cooler, but what better way to form an IMMEDIATE bond than with another parent who is picking up a screaming child? My hubby ended up training another dad he met at day care on a critical experiment. It’s not a replacement for happy hour, but hey… 2️⃣ Little Things = Loyalty:  Parking spots for pregnant moms, caregiver days, bonding at the onsite day care – “as a dad, it just makes me feel like families are welcome here.” 3️⃣ Science Savings…pharma leaders, this one’s for you: Because day care is so close, Mike can make sure cells and reagents don’t go to waste in case there is a need to go check on our kiddos. Are you working to make a case for added caregiver benefits? Click below and get more gems to share.

https://lnkd.in/ebB2AUCs This should come as no surprise. Interesting insights into who is affected the most. Latina women see lifetime income slashed by 19 percent based on low paying jobs with limited flexibility and less access to child care. College educated women see the greatest loss of earnings. The more you make, the more you lose. Black women are the least likely to scale back their employment because of issues related to affordability and systemic inequalities. This doesn't even begin to address the losses related to interrupted worklives, burdens of juggling competing responsibilities and loss of workplace and professional growth potential. Caregiving primarily is a women's issue; but it is impacting men more and more and the economy - which is why we might start to see some progress in righting this wrong. Think about who is providing home care. Those people, primarily women of color in the US, deserve greater recognition. #newagingpartnership #caregivingconfidential #caregiving #womenandmoney

What can you do to create a truly inclusive workspace for childfree workers? @WeareChildfree recently surveyed over 1,100 non-parents on their experiences at work and found that: - 77% of childfree people feel like they've been treated differently at work. - 60% have felt friction with the parents they work with. - 68% feel like that can't bring up these issues with their line manager. So, how can we support non-parents to overcome these challenges? And how can we build more inclusive workplaces? Find out more in their free report “Unseen, Unheard & Undervalued” below 👇 #childfree #nonparents #parents #inclusiveworkplace #inclusion #buildingbridges

For as long as I want kids (and have a choice in the matter) I will NEVER work for someone else. I'm 4 weeks into life with a newborn, and by the standard of pat leave at most companies I'd have returned to work a few weeks ago. I'm still dumbfounded by just how much parental leave for non-birthing partners is both misunderstood and neglected - especially by businesses who purport to care about equity and inclusion. (Fun fact: I once worked for a business that wouldn't give equal leave until they could "give everyone who doesn't want kids a paid sabbatical too" 🤪🔫) Equitable leave for non-birthing partners is probably one of the most high leverage tools a business has at it's disposal to create greater equity in their organisation. This isn't just about giving non-birthing partners the chance to share the caregiving load or to form meaningful bonds with their children - both of which should be considered critically important regardless. By not directly assuming women will fulfil the caregiving role, it's directly tackles so many of the challenges women face with bias and discrimination when it comes to progression at work. When anyone in the business can take parental leave, will everyone be so quickly overlooked for a promotion, or their role made redundant? I think not. So although as a small business owner I'm unable to carve out time for any formal leave, the fact I am my own boss and do work primarily from home means I do get to form a bond with my daughter, and I do get to share the caregiving responsibilities. I have a choice - but sadly for so many, they do not. So be better for the parents at your company - one small change can make a huge difference. Shout out to Pregnant Then Screwed doing many of the hard yards for driving change - and Koru Kids for their "Paternity League" for keeping it transparent and accountable! After all that, I'm going back to bed 😴 🛌 #parenting #peoplepolicy #entrepreneurship

Jessica Calarco's book "Holding it Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net" is a must read for anyone interested in the issues around CARE WORK in this country (mothering, looking after elderly relatives etc etc). In line with with what many of us saw anecdotally but also so blatantly during the pandemic, women are the social safety net that the U.S. lacks.   Calarco delves into how far-reaching policy around CARE WORK never materialized post-pandemic (and we even lost the child credit - so needed to many families), as well as US myths around motherhood AND the role corporations play in sustaining the status quo. Anne Helen Peterson, in covering the book, points out that there’s this perception among many Americans that our country is too big or too diverse for sweeping safety net programs (wrong: think Medicaid and Social Security). And, that during WWII, when women were asked to enter the workforce (as men were at the Front and someone had to keep the economy growing!), a federal government program whereby mothers working in any paid job could get up to six days a week of full-time childcare with free meals and snacks and educational programming offered in small-class-size settings was implemented. Short lived, but hugely popular, this program was cut when men came back from the war and women were encouraged to return home. I see Calarco's book as another stone we have to set in our defense of women in the workplace, respect for CARE WORK, and the call for some sort of universal child care system & paid leave in this country (thinking of Reshma Saujani's work here), as well as fighting this growing scary narrative around staying home and being a wife and mother as all fulfilling!

This week, I attended the inaugural Women Connect event, GOEO’s first employee resource group dedicated to igniting positive change for women and men and supporting gender equity in the workplace. It was a great event with Keynote Deidre M. Henderson and a panel discussion with jill Remington Love, Dan Chadwick, and Michelle Conley. Great job, all! As a mom that has just returned to the workforce, this was a timely discussion. While the discussion wasn't solely focused on working moms, childcare did come up a few times and has been an area of concern for me. Back in 2019 when I quit my job to focus on my graduate program and my family, a big factor for my quitting is the lack of affordable child care options. I wasn't making enough money to justify the cost of child care and managing the child care was like a part-time job in itself (we had 2 graduate students and at-home provider to manage). At the time, it just wasn't worth it to me so I left my job. Without going into a lot of detail, my career break ended up to be longer because I graduated just as the pandemic started. I had a preschooler and a first grader at the time so I became their teacher instead of going back to the workforce. Fast forward to today, I have found a job that is PT and flexible through the Return Utah program, championed by Lt. Governor Henderson. This program has taken some of the stress of going back to work with young kids. Child care is still a concern but working the PT hours has eased this concern quite a bit. I saw this article in Utah Business today, which spurred this post. Child care is so important for the overall health of our families, our economy, and our success. One thing I will say is the child care discussion shouldn't just be around working moms. One comment at the Connect Women event asked why the State isn't providing child care to its employees as GOEO is 65% women. While I agree, why couldn't child care be offer through the office even if the office consistent of 100% men? Let's change the narrative that child care is a woman's concern. https://lnkd.in/gaeVgXt2