Human Matters with Sami Parker: Corporate America must make room for motherhood

In the latest episode of Human Matters with Sami Parker, a video series powered by Live Action, Parker explores how companies that are built to thrive on productivity can better support working mothers.

Key Takeaways:

• Parker notes that corporate America is not designed to support mothers who need to care for their young children.

• Corporations aren't against women, but they define "supporting women" as "whatever way best preserves women's productivity and workflow for the corporation rather than supporting women as a whole."

• Currently, workplaces will pay for things like egg freezing and abortions, because they enable a woman to stay in the workforce.

• Instead, Parker says women should be offered flexibility and the chance to work from home, and corporations should implement generous policies for both maternity and paternity leave.

The Details:

Corporations Want Women Without Children

Parker begins by noting that what most moms really want is more time at home with their babies and small children. Unfortunately, the reality for far too many is that they are forced to return to work shortly after their children are born, because in the U.S., many moms aren't offered paid maternity leave.

However, she adds, most corporations aren't against women. it's just that "they define 'supporting women' in whatever way best preserves women's productivity and workflow for the corporation rather than supporting women as a whole — mothers in particular."

The Big Picture:

This leads to a deeper layer of the discussion.

"Motherhood in particular collides with our modern culture’s obsession with productivity and output," Parker said.

When women become mothers, they recognize that their children are infinitely more important than work deadlines or quarterly goals.

"Because of this reality, so many modern workplace 'solutions' for uplifting women revolve around helping women delay, suppress, outsource, or minimize motherhood rather than restructuring their own workplace for women," she explained.

She pointed out that many companies will pay for things like egg freezing, or even abortions, because these things allow women to remain at their jobs, pushing motherhood to some undetermined time in the future — or forgoing it altogether.

The Bottom Line:

Parker suggests that real accommodation for working mothers would be accommodating work to allow moms more time with their kids:

The core of this discussion is really about what matters most. It’s about what we should revolve around in this short time we are given on earth. 

The greatest joys in your life — whoever you are watching this video — are probably not economical. It’s probably not about the raise you got at work — as awesome and well-deserved as it was...

... I think deep down, women know there is something wrong with the vision that work ought to come before our children. 

Because children are not obstacles to our flourishing as humans — they aren’t burdens to eliminate so we can get back to living real life. 

As a solution, she urges that moms be allowed to work from home. Moms should be offered at least half a year of maternity leave, and paternity leave should be standard for dads as well.

"Having a baby is one of the most meaningful, profound, formational things human beings can experience," she says. "We should advocate for a workplace culture that recognizes and works with that reality."