Ann Crittenden noticed that mothers occupy an odd position in most social and economic debates. Feminists on the Left have tended to denigrate, or at best ignore, those women who choose to spend time raising children. Workplace equality and an equal opportunity to pursue the CEO's office have been the focus of the past 30 years' effort. Women at home with children seem like a step in the wrong direction, even if they are doing so just for a few years under flextime.
Conversely, the Right claims to adore mothers. Bearing and raising children are praised as Woman's highest achievements, for which she is to be revered. However, she is not to be rewarded from without. Close examination of conservative social policy shows that the Right does not put its money where its mouth is. From tax law to immigration law to corporate policies, it is abundantly clear that women are at every step hindered from being able to raise the next generation of productive workers without making tradeoffs that compromise their own position, and by extension, the position of those very children. What kind of "family values" force a woman to make wrenching choices between alternatives that harm her children in the short run versus the long run?
In other words, no one is standing up for mothers in America. And goodness knows, they can't stand up for themselves when they are swamped with two jobs, housework, child care, and a mountain of other obligations.
In "The Price of Motherhood," Crittenden thoroughly makes the point that social policies and laws in America systematically place mothers in particular at an enormous economic disadvantage compared to both childless women and all men. And it's not just another cry of "I'm more disadvantaged than you"-- Crittenden correctly points out that harming mothers means harming children, and children are a resource that is far too precious to waste. The loss of "human capital" that our policies creates is staggering, and largely unnoticed because it is not well measured.
Crittenden's background is in economics and journalism. Much of her analysis is highly practical. She has no sympathy for feel-good arguments about the psychological satisfaction of motherhood. Sure, she acknowledges that it exists (she herself is a mother), but it doesn't put food on the table or help educate Junior to be a well-adjusted, thoughtful, productive citizen. Crittenden bluntly states that men, companies, the government, and communities have been "freeloading" off women's unpaid child care labor for over a century.
But this book is not another plea to pay stay-at-home moms some kind of "salary" for their work, in an imitation of the capitalist system we use for paying employees. It is deeper than that. Crittenden weaves together a whole set of policies that makes a lot more sense than what we have... if your true goal is to provide the best possible environment for the next generation. Crittenden really does believe in family values.
For instance, in current policy, married couples are encouraged to file their taxes jointly. This means that, in effect, the lower salary of a two-income household is taxed at a much higher rate than it would be otherwise. It is possible for the second income to literally be a liability to the couple, especially if keeping the second job means that they have to pay daycare expenses.
Conversely, savings within a marriage are associated with the particular partner who earned the money. For the purposes of retirement benefits including Social Security, there is no "joint filing"-- it's every man and woman for themselves. Ditto in the event of a divorce. Not surprisingly, this can really hurt the lower earner, almost always the woman.
To Crittenden, it seems plain that these two policies should be reversed. She argues that income that comes into a family unit belongs to the family, and all members should benefit from it. However, taxes are related to each individuals' contribution to the economy, and are appropriately considered separately. (Note that if we did institute some way to get cash in mothers' hands for their contribution to the economy of the next generation, some of the expense would be recovered in taxes, even by Crittenden's policy). This sort of policy is much more children-friendly than what we have, and hence brings greater benefit to the country as a whole.
Crittenden's entire goal is to create policies that do not penalize women for having children. She does not hesitate to bring whatever resources are necessary to bear on the issue. The result is that some of her arguments stem from rather different positions-- sometimes totally pragmatic/economic, sometimes biological, and sometimes moral. If this seems distastefully inconsistent, consider that current laws and policies possess a similar hodgepodge of justification, and they cannot even claim to have a unified vision of the desired end state. Overall, I found Crittenden's reasoning to be sound, if single-mindedly directed toward one goal.
"The Price of Motherhood" tackles a lot of tough questions that have been largely undebated in feminist spheres, and downright ignored by most social conservatives. There are chapters on child care workers (who are often classified as "unskilled labor"), divorce laws, and the eternal bottom-line accusation, "But it was her choice!" Crittenden deftly exposes the underlying assumption behind much of our current policy: that women possess an innate ability to care for children, and it is so natural that it is completely without economic value.
Baloney, she says. Socializing a child in an advanced country like the United States-- where workers need diverse, adaptive skills and comparitively high verbal/intellectual sophistication-- is hard work, and it creates value for society. Nowhere is that value recorded, recognized, or rewarded. We're not even aware of it. This book is intended as a wake-up call.
I rate "The Price of Motherhood" a "+." I haven't read a book about women's position in society with quite this perspective. Crittenden has uncovered an area where there is still an incredible amount of work to do, and better yet, offers tangible suggestions for how to do it. You may not agree with everything she says, but the conversation has been started. Let's keep it up.
Copyright © Kim Allen 2001
