In honor of Mother’s Day (May 9) this year, the Marshall Plan for Moms
(MPM), led by Girls Who Code founder Reshma
Saujani — is launching the "’Moms Deserve More’ Flower
Store" —
an online flower shop highlighting the true value of mothers' work, and the true
cost of adequately thanking them. The shop features bouquets priced according to
data showing the unpaid work and broken policies impacting moms around the world
— because, as MPM points out:
“Working for free to save the economy’s a$$ from disaster should earn women a little something extra this year.”
The COVID-19 pandemic
has been disproportionately devastating for mothers, and especially mothers of
color. According to the National Women's Law
Center, 2.3 million women
left the workforce in the last year, putting the women's labor force
participation rate at 57 percent — the lowest it's been since 1988. That's 30
years of progress for women, erased in a matter of months.
So, what better time than Mother’s Day to shine a light on just how hard many
moms work, and the deeply embedded systems and policies that continue to
undervalue them?
OK, Now What?: Navigating Corporate Sustainability After the US Presidential Election
Join us for a free webinar on Monday, December 9, at 1pm ET as Andrew Winston and leaders from the American Sustainable Business Council, Democracy Forward, ECOS and Guardian US share insights into how the shifting political and cultural environment may redefine the responsibilities and opportunities for companies committed to sustainability.
"A dozen roses are not going to cut it this year," Saujani says. "The pandemic
has intensified what was already a national crisis for working moms, and
especially for moms of color. This year, we have to repair the broken structure
of motherhood in America. Because what moms really need is a national reckoning
— one that reimagines our culture and rebuilds a system to actually value our
work."
Unlike your typical flower shop, the prices of the bouquets spotlight the
various ways in which our national policies and COVID-relief efforts are failing
to adequately support mothers. The $800 billion Unpaid Work Bouquet is based on
new Oxfam data
showing
that women around the world lost $800 billion in income last year, as they lost
jobs or left the workforce to care for family.
Other bouquets in the Moms Deserve More store include:
"We need systemic changes to our policies that compensate moms for their work,"
Saujani said. "If nobody can afford the cost of these bouquets, let's ask
ourselves why we are continuing to ask women to pay that price."
According to the site, Marshall Plan for Moms isn’t expecting most people to
literally fork over thousands of dollars for these bouquets; the organization
accepts donations of any size and will put funds raised toward furthering the
organization’s agenda — which includes advocating for public and private sector
policies to support all moms, such as paid family leave, affordable childcare,
equal pay protection for women, job retraining and compensation for moms forced
to give up paying jobs to do unpaid caregiving work.
"Child care should be universally accessible and affordable to all families, and
child care workers must be able to earn living wages and be treated with dignity
and respect, said Ai-jen Poo, co-founder and Executive Director of the
National Domestic Workers Alliance. "For far
too long, those in power have devalued caregiving and allowed for women,
especially women of color, to be forced out of the workforce and care workers to
be underpaid. Parents and care workers are doing the crucial and challenging
work of nurturing the potential of future generations. As a nation, if we're to
realize our potential, they must be supported by our public policy, our systems
and a culture that values care."
Along with Ai-jen Poo, the ‘Moms Deserve More’ Flower Store is supported by well-known moms and
advocates including comedian Amy Schumer; New York
Congresswoman Grace Meng; Mara Bolis, Associate Director of Women's
Economic Empowerment at Oxfam America; and organizations including the
National Women's Law Center, Paid Leave for All, PL+US, and Scary
Mommy.
In January, 50 prominent women ran a full page
ad in
The New York Times, calling on the Biden Administration to create a task
force dedicated to implementing a "Marshall Plan for Moms" — that is, paying
mothers for their unpaid, unseen labor; and passing policies adequately
addressing parental leave, affordable childcare and pay equity. Following
the NYT ad, Congresswoman
Meng introduced the
Marshall Plan for Moms (H.Res.121) — a transformative piece of legislation to
help women return to the workforce; and, for the first time, offer much-needed
assistance to mothers who have been severely impacted by the pandemic. The MPM
was then introduced in the Senate by US Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). In February, 50 prominent male allies —
including Steph Curry, Don Cheadle, Colin Farrell and others —
signed a
letter in
the Washington Post calling on Congress to support the MPM.
"This is a unique Mother's Day message — still a celebration of Moms, but with a
more focused point of view of the actual cost of motherhood," and Amy
Frisch, Managing Director and Head of Client Services at SS+K, the agency
that managed the visual identity, website and creative launch of the campaign,
said. "It's about time we acknowledged the financial expense associated with
motherhood. This project was personal. I'm a mom, and I worked alongside a team
of other SS+K moms. Collaborating with Reshma, we knew we could create a
campaign that could make an impact in forcing this long overdue conversation."
Get the latest insights, trends, and innovations to help position yourself at the forefront of sustainable business leadership—delivered straight to your inbox.
Sustainable Brands Staff
Published May 7, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST