Women's History Month: A Workin' Mamas Panel

Epstein's DE&I Committee hosted a Workin' Mamas Panel last night, as a way to have open dialogue about motherhood, parenting and the workplace. No matter our individual responsibilities, with or without children, everyone benefits from conversations such as these. Transparency, empathy and understanding of each other's familial priorities highlight the value of a team, and can help mitigate feelings of guilt when mothers feel torn between their professional duties and responsibilities at home.

We were joined by Laura Rebbe, Associate Director of Architecture; Lori Chandler, Senior Technical Architect; Criss Paccione-Anderson, Director of Corporate Services; and Amy Northern, Project Architect.

DID YOU KNOW...

• Maternal employment declined by 15.7% in April 2020, a larger decline than the 9.6% reduction fathers experienced at that time. Throughout the pandemic, mothers’ employment recovered more slowly and remains 2.0% below their February 2020 employment 2020 employment rate, representing about 333,500 working mothers. (Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor)
• 35% of women and 26% of men with caregiving responsibilities and in managerial positions have experienced a pandemic-related career setback. (Source: The Society for Human Resources Management)
• 50 years ago, the US Supreme Court declared discrimination against pregnant women illegal. Yet, the Motherhood Penalty continues. Working moms are routinely passed over for promotions, demoted, given low-level assignments or punished for requesting flexible work hours to meet family responsibilities. (Source: ACLU)
• Due to the Motherhood Penalty, mothers make $.58 cents for every dollar paid to fathers. (Source: American Association of University Women)
• 41% of women are the sole primary breadwinner in US households with children. (Source: Center for American Progress)

Our panelists discussed handling parenting duties that often default to mom, partners with demanding jobs, office conditions conducive to mothers who breastfeed, flexibility of their respective teams, and lessons they've learned along the way (for example, finding that father's with working, professional wives are typically more understanding of the need for flexibility.)

It was a wonderful discussion with fantastic questions and comments from the audience. Thank you to the Epstein moms, and our moderators (and fathers!) Ed Curley and Chad Ware for participating.