Yes, I have heard her (perhaps at the Socialist Scholars Conference?) make this argument. She's right in the sense that family leave, i.e., informal caretaking, is heavily gendered, for both social (traditional) and economic (women earn less) reasons. But that's no reason not to push it, with whatever gender-equalizing components might be included (paid leave?). More generally, any family policy intervention--including many on Jim's original list--would get filtered through existing family roles. And while progressive family policy should attend to this issue, putting forth some proposals that supported the family would at least place us in the unfamiliar position of having the wind at our backs.
Joel Blau
Doug Henwood wrote:
Joel Blau wrote:
Yes, the left greatly underestimates the potential of a progressive family policy as a way of reframing the issue of who strengthens families (amazingly, post-election polls show Bush leading, 39-31on this issue). But remember the fuss the right kicked up when Clinton signed the Family Leave Act, which, unlike other countries, doesn't even offer paid leave. Now, if only there were a political party that would put forth such proposals...
Ssshh, don't let Barbara Bergmann hear you! She gets livid on the subject of parental leave, which she says will reverse all women's workplace gains, and is in fact part of a vast antifeminist conspiracy.
Doug
