WAUKESHA – We love Mom, but do we value her work? Award-winning journalist and author, Ann Crittenden will address that subject at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 5, in a lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 1500 N. University Dr., Waukesha. Tickets are $5 and are available by phoning (262) 521-5212.
Author of The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued, Crittenden has constructed a stunning indictment of an American economic structure that penalizes motherhood. Drawing on her background in economics and her research, she reveals some startling findings:
- College-educated women pay a “mommy tax” of over a million dollars in lost income when they have a child.
- Most statutes of family law are antiquated and fail to provide mothers with either financial equality in marriage or financial security in divorce.
- The work of at-home mothers is excluded from GDP statistics. These mothers are not officially counted in the labor force, and there is no Social Security provision for them as they grow older.
Debunking the myth that choosing to have a child equates to silent assent to these inequalities, Crittenden argues that proper recognition of the contributions of mothers would bring economic benefits to all members of society. In addition to making a case of historical unfairness, she suggests an agenda to correct it.
A reporter for the New York Times from 1975 to 1983, Crittenden also has been a financial writer and foreign correspondent for Newsweek, a reporter for Fortune, a visiting lecturer at MIT and Yale, and executive director of the national Fund for Investigative Journalism. Her previous books include Sanctuary: A Story of American Conscience and the Law in Collision, which was a 1988 New York Times Notable Book, and Killing the Sacred Cows: Bold Ideas for a New Economy. Her articles have appeared in The Nation, Foreign Affairs, McCall’s, Lear’s, and Working Woman, among other publications.
Crittenden’s appearance at UW-Waukesha is sponsored by the University Convocations Committee as part of its Distinguished Lecturer series. |
