Customer Reviews

The Motherhood Manifesto: What America's Moms Want - and What To Do About It

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As a writer who feels like it's time to move beyond the so-called "Mommy Wars," I eagerly awaited the chance to read "The Motherhood Manifesto." I was not disappointed--this is truly the book that I have been hoping that someone would write. Blades and Rowe-Finkbeiner describe the substantial problems that familes face, and lay out proactive steps that mothers can take to work toward a just and equitable society for all of us. The book is extremely well researched. My impression after reading the first few chapters was to feel angry that there is so little U. S. public policy that truly supports parents, and also very sad that we have thus far settled for such a pathetic situation. Thinking parents, women and men: it is a matter of economic strategy as well as compassion to support familes with flexible work schedules, benefits, and fair wages. Joan Blades and Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner have incredible credentials to launch a new movement. Read this book, [...] to find out what you can do to join their call to action.

As the author of "The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America," (Penguin, 2001), I have long waited for a book that explains why women and mothers are not part of "identity politics; but an essentail ingredient of the public good. "The Motherhood Manifesto" offers the reader a clear, lucid, description of the discrimination that mothers face, and what we can do to rectify this injustice. It addresses what I have called The Care Crisis--the fact that mothers have entered the paid labor force during the last 40 years, but American society has found no answer to the vital questions: Who will take care of our nation's children,elderly, and our communities?

For those who want to restore democracy in the United States, here is the recipe for doing just that--creating a society in which caregiving and work each receive their due, but in a balanced and humane manner. Must reading for anyone who cares about the burdens working mothers and families face under our current antiquated system of assuming that each person and each family is wholly self-reliant.

The minds behind MoveOn.org tend to get it right, and this book is no exception. Throught-provoking and insightful, and well worth a price tag of less than ten bucks!

Overall its a GREAT book. But my question is this, is it about what people WANT or about what society NEEDS?

Wish the book had more on the issue of education. Recent news stories show that well over half of all Latino and black students drop out of school. Time magazine did a major story in recent months of the number of white students in middle America who are dropping out. Yet all research shows that better education, even a high school diploma will help keep a person out of poverty.

You can have all the childcare and after school programs you want but unless finishing school is made a priority society will continue to suffer. Even with state supported pre school programs we still have a huge drop out problem down the road come high school.

How many parents in this book who were/are struggling lack a high school education? How many could use continuing education in order to make a better living? How many parents with children in schools live in communities where families with children are the majority yet every new school bond issue is voted down?

On page 181 the authors write 'It is a reality of modern life that most mothers need to reenter the workforce before their children are in elementary school...' Where is the research that shows this? ABC 20/20 did an excellent piece a couple years ago that showed that for many working mothers, they were not making more money working but were in fact losing money what with the second car, childcare, clothes, second car etc.

How about we step back and look at the vast suburban landscape where the average family has two children yet the house the parents are buying is one-third or one hundred percent larger than the homes of the 1950's when families were larger. Where two newer cars sit in the garage, one or both being gas guzzlers. Meals are expensive premade or fast food genre and the kids lack for nothing materially.

What responsibility to the majority who lack for nothing have for those who have needs and not just wants?

What would happen if we as a society were to stress simple living and less materialism? How much money would society save which could be diverted to those who need some help with childcare, and healthcare coverage for ALL Americans? And how many families could then afford to have one parent at home with the kids?

And what about the boomers who not only have children to care for but aging parents who need help?

We are in the beginning of the largest older citizen population ever. And these AARP folks have voting power and will demand their needs be met, reminding elected officials that they have paid their dues, raised families sans child care and all the materialistic nonsense that modern young families view as necessities.

This is why I think instead of a childcare funded program we need a national family care program that will help those families who need help with child AND adult care for elder members of the family. This would unite us as a society, rather than split us into groups that tend to divide rather than unite.

We also need fully funded family planning programs so that parents can prevent unwanted pregnancies. We need national healthcare so that ALL Americans can get at least basic and preventative healthcare, which includes dental and mental healthcare.

We also need better housing programs so that there is wiser land use, and less use of water, electricity etc. And progressive housing programs that require developers to not only build 100% energy efficient housing but for every ten new houses built, one has to be built for a working poor or disabled family at NO cost. Housing is a right, not a luxury, and developers need not be greedy when it comes to giving back to the entire community and society at large. We need sans automobile standards so that as a nation we aren't guzzling most of the worlds oil in relation to our population.

We need FREE schooling grades K thru colleges. Before Ronald Reagan became California Governor any California resident who got into a state owned/run university got a FREE education.

We need a populace that will NOT tolerate a federal government who invades other sovereign countries to make war and spend valuable tax dollars that can be better spent making this country one to be admired. How can a country invade and destroy another country while at home we need more schools, affordable housing and affordable health care?


So yes this is a GREAT book as far as what the authors say what American Want VS what they need. Sadly there is so much they missed. And as a walk the talk, put my money where my mouth is (I donate to MoveOn.org) I think the book needs a second edition that will cover areas they missed.

This book is very well researched, its claims are backed by trustworthy data from various sources, and it is well written.
The wonderful thing about this book is that besides laying out the problems faced by mothers and their families, it offers the path to the solutions of these problems. Not only mothers should read this, but anyone who is part of a family, which, I guess, includes pretty much all of us.

Reading this book made me really, really, unbelievably sad...but then, all books of this nature tend to do that to me. I am of two minds on this one...part of me really liked it, but the rest of me loathed it. I do think that probably all women who are in their early twenties, at the start of their career track and considering "having it all" (the career, the husband and the kids) should read this, because there is a harsh reality that comes with being a mom (or dad) AND working full time...and the alternative of one parent staying home requires sacrifices that are just as great (unless you're lucky enough to have a spouse that actually does make enough to support this...and fewer and fewer do anymore). Reading something like this would have been a real eye opener for me ten years ago...and I probably would have made different choices than I did in having our children...I went into it blindly, thinking it would all work out because we decided to undertake parenting as a joint venture, but the reality is quite different than what one might think. Parenting is expensive and hard...but mostly the expense is hard to deal with (the rest has its rewards and is therefore easier to take).

The book stresses that families NEED two full time working parents to make ends meet and doesn't seem to take into account people who choose to do with less (like one car instead of two, second hand instead of new, ect...) to have one parent stay at home and the other work full time...but the reality is that for the way most people live and the wages they can realistically pull down, both do need to work just to make a basic living wage with no bells or whistles. What got my dander up is that the book proposes that mothers WANT (or need) so much and they should get it just because they are mothers and it's the right thing to do...without any REAL ideas on how these changes could be brought about realistically. The reality is that unless you already are at a job (that has a family friendly staff) you're probably not going to be able to negotiate flex time or bring your kid to work (and how many single, or non parent people...or even parent people) WANT someone's kid at work all the time (or even occasionally)...I know when I worked, I hated it when people brought their kids in to hang out while they worked...it's disruptive even when the kids ARE well behaved...and most aren't.

The rest of it, well there are so many women (and men) out there who are vehemently opposed to any type of benefits for parents, because, well, how dare mothers or fathers demand (and get) benefits that singletons wouldn't get...and why should they have to pay for or support parents and their evil spawn...there is such a backlash against mothers out there that I am seeing seething out there these days...I don't see the manifesto being well received by men or women in general...and especially by those who have chosen not to have children. In some ways I can understand this, as ALL people parents or not, deserve to earn a living wage, have healthcare and all that stuff too, and I can see where the idea of implementing universal child health coverage would get the dander up in single people or childless couples, the same way paying taxes for schools they don't need and will never use does NOW. The same people that don't want to pay taxes for your kids to go to school, certainly won't want to pay taxes for your kids to have universal healthcare coverage.

Overall, I think it's a good book, but the reality of DOING what this book suggests is just mind-bogging. I don't see it happening anytime soon...my advice, unless you have a fantastic support system of child friendly family and friends...or a super high paying job that you're guaranteed not to lose in the next twenty years...seriously reconsider having children. Without one or the other (or, even better, both) becoming a parent will be a significant financial drain and you really will have a hard time properly parenting your kids...just read through the child care section in this book or talk to a few minimum wage working mothers with kids in substandard daycare situations if you don't believe me. Oh, yea...and I'm serious about the child-friendly part of my above statement...just because they are your family and friends doesn't mean they will actually want to help you or support you in your parenting emotionally or by offering supplemental child care and babysitting. Heck, we had a few friends that refused to socialize with us after our daughter was born...SOCALIZE, not watch our kids, just come and have dinner or play games or hang out...yea, that's right, you might actually LOSE friends by having kids because there ARE people who don't want to deal with them at all and/or who feel that somehow they'll be roped into helping with the rugrat...it does happen. I give the book B-...great ideas but I don't see the ieas here being easy to implement or widely accepted.

THE MOTHERHOOD MANIEFSTO is a good introduction of key points necessary to improve lives of mothers and children and families, both in the workplace and at home. Blandes and Rowe Finkbeiner present the following as a part of a 'Motherhood Manifesto' - key items that mothers and anyone who care about them should agree on to improve the lives of mothers and families:

M: "Maternity/Paternity Leave"
O: "Open Flexible Work";
T: "TV You Choose and Other After-School Programs"
H: "Healthcare for All Kids"
E: "Excellent Child Care"
R: "Realistic and Fair Wages."

Blandes and Rowe-Finkbeiner write in easy, clear prose (some may find it a bit too basic). They support the need for the 'manifesto items' with engaging examples of how mothers and families both struggle without the above elements, and how mothers, families, and businesses have made things work once one or more of the above 'manifesto items' are implemented. They also substantiate their claims with many references.

The book is a good introduction for those who are new to the topic. For those who are already engrossed in the issue, the book does not present anything truly new. As someone who has been interested in women's issues for years, this book really did not present any exciting new information.

The book definitely has its biases. Most importantly, in many ways, the book doesn't address the roots of the problems facing not only mothers and families, but society as a whole.

I couldn't help feel somewhat sympathetic with those 'evil' CEOs and others, who prefer to hire men and single women versus mothers. If we want to live in a society where we value profits and efficiency, pay the cheapest prices for products, do not want to pay our taxes, and want all kinds of luxuries, we pay for this by having absurdly low minimum wages, lack of benefits (especially for part time work) and in general a whole host of family unfriendly policies. Our institutions, all things being equal, will prefer to hire single women and men to mothers (noting that mothers perform the vast majority of child care duties).

Looking at the Point of View of the CEO who wants to maximize profits and efficiency, would you prefer to hire someone (all things, such as qualifications and skills, being equal) who leaves for months of family leave, sick leave (for taking care of those sick kids) and has to run home early in the evening to get kids out of day care, or would you prefer to hire someone who can work without all these interruptions?

Ultimately, we can't keep the kind of society we have (have corporations maximize profit, and businesses maximizing efficiency, expect to pay low low prices at our nearest Walmart for all kinds of goodies, and not want to pay taxes) AND have a truly family friendly society. We as a society have to determine what we really want for ourselves, our families, and our businesses, and make some hard choices.

While the Manifesto Items presented by Blandes and Rowe Finkbeiner are a good beginning, they should only form the beginning of a much deeper trend to change society as a whole so we value women (mothers and non-mothers), families, and children as they deserve to be valued. Profits and efficiency, fed by a consumptive materialism, will have to take a lesser role. Unless we realize that we can't have our cake and eat it also, mothers and families will continue to get the short end of the stick.

For me and for the women in a local reading/action group to which I belong, this book provided important information on issues about which we are concerned and introduced us to a network of like-minded women. It prompted important discussions about which issues we consider most pressing (we all agreed on the urgent need for universal, quality healthcare and childcare), and helped us think about how to translate those concerns not only into support and votes for particular candidates, but also into direct action in our community.

This book is full of stories and statistics supporting the fact that multiple social policy changes need to be passed through Congress in order to demonstrate support of America's families.

I was already convinced that changes needed to occur prior to reading this book, but that feeling has been cemented after reading this book. America lags far, far behind the rest of the world when it comes to caring for its families. We need to catch up, and it will take a grassroots movement of moms, ... (show more)

This book is full of stories and statistics supporting the fact that multiple social policy changes need to be passed through Congress in order to demonstrate support of America's families.

I was already convinced that changes needed to occur prior to reading this book, but that feeling has been cemented after reading this book. America lags far, far behind the rest of the world when it comes to caring for its families. We need to catch up, and it will take a grassroots movement of moms, dads, and grandparents uniting together to show Congress that paid family leave, flexible work schedules, liveable wages, TV that we choose, better afterschool programs, and quality, affordable childcare are not optional. They are necessities in this day and age.

This book is a call for progress. It includes realistic situations, but I felt like something was missing from it. Perhaps the tone was too radical for my liberal taste, as I would have preferred more from the other side. But the book is definitely pro-family in that it's manifesto includes a lot of points that benefit families. Maternity and paternity leave, flexible leave time, healthcare, childcare, realistic and fair wages, television options, etc.