My two best friends are both named Sarah. They are smart, ambitious women. Both are white, college educated, and upper-middle class. They work in challenging, rewarding professional jobs and are married to wonderful men. And they’re both mothers to beautiful little boys. Despite all these similarities, their experiences as new mothers returning to work after giving birth couldn’t have been more different.
Two New Moms Return to Work — One in Seattle, One in Stockholm
Their experiences couldn’t be more different.
March 03, 2020
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Summary.
Sarah-in-Seattle and Sarah-in-Stockholm are both white, middle-class, married, professional women with babies and toddlers at home. But their experiences as working mothers returning to work after giving birth could not have been more different. That’s because Sarah-in-Stockholm benefits from a host of family-friendly policies that the Swedish government supports, including lengthy paid parental leave, free healthcare, and subsidized childcare. Without any of those supports, Sarah-in-Seattle has struggled to balance her job and child-rearing. Employers can surely help overcome this problem by offering better benefits. But that won’t fix the problem for everyone. Instead, they should start advocating for legislation that better accommodates the needs of working families.