Do not understand the thinking...

Jennifer Benson

September 11,2020 at 6:26PM UTC

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When I read posts about women out of the workforce for an extended period of time to raise their children and are having a difficult time finding employment it really irritates me, really.
Motherhood is a set of skills that should transfer to any job: cannot take days off, set priorities, skills at multitasking, setting appointments, involved in activities from a social aspect, working as a team, getting along with others, teaching, nursing, cleaning, socializing and the list goes on. Unless the job requires skills the woman doesn’t hold employers should not judge women as if they were “out of the workforce”, they were in the workforce 24/7 they just didn’t get paid. If they already have a degree, sure brush up on your skills, take a few online classes or whatever they feel they need, but for employers to view them as “out of the game”, that’s just wrong.

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Abigail KellySeptember 14,2020 at 3:38PM UTC
Hi Jennifer! Thank you for your thoughts. We 100% agree and it's exactly why we work with employers to help them think differently about this incredibly educated and experienced talent pool. So many skills gained through informal or unpaid means during a career break for caregiving translate to business needs. As we always remind our audience, they are not broken, the system is. If you're interested, be sure to subscribe to Path Forward as well, so you can be alerted any time we have a new returnship opportunity in a city near you. You can find out more by visiting pathforward.org/participant.
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Jennifer BensonSeptember 15,2020 at 4:50PM UTC
Abigail, I'm glad to read there are women out there that think about this issue and understand how the system is not supportive of women who choose to stay home and raise children for several years. I support all women and their choice to have children or not, but I include motherhood as work. I agree, the system is broken and we're all here to fix it.
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