Working Mother

The Revenge of the Mommy Bloggers

Barbara Turvett — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 17:55:13 GMT

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Here is a bedtime story to tell your little daughters ... tell them ... every night if you are able, because it is they who will change the world ... they will have to. But you can give them a head start.

The Family and Medical Leave Act Turns 20!

Kelli Daley — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:37:43 GMT

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Tuesday, February 5, marks exactly 20 years since the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law. The nation’s first and only federal law designed to help families manage their responsibilities at work and at home, it was a historic and groundbreaking event.

The Working Mom’s Guide to the 2012 Elections

Kelli Daley — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:30:44 GMT

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BOC 2012

As election day approaches, it’s easy to forget that there’s more than the presidency at stake: All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate are up for grabs as well.

2012 Best of Congress Profiles

Kelli Daley — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:47:08 GMT

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BOC Steps

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Representative Tammy Baldwin

D-Wisconsin

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Senator Michael Bennet

D-Colorado

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Senator Sherrod Brown

D-Ohio

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Representative Russ Carnahan

D-Missouri

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Senator Robert Casey

D-Pennsylvania

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Senator Mike Crapo

R-Idaho

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Representative Susan Davis

D-California

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Representative Rosa DeLauro

D-Connecticut

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Representative Jeff Denham

R-California

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Representative Chaka Fattah

D-Pennsylvania

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Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

D-New York

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Representative Raúl M. Grijalva

D-Arizona

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Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

R-Texas

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Senator Herb Kohl

D-Wisconsin

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Representative Carolyn Maloney

D-New York

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Senator Patty Murray

D-Washington

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Representative Kristi Noem

R-South Dakota

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Representative Erik Paulsen

R-Minnesota

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Representative Ed Perlmutter

D-Colorado

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Representative David Reichert

R-Washington

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Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers

R-Washington

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Representative Peter Roskam

R-Illinois

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Representative C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger

D-Maryland

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Representative Linda Sánchez

D-California

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Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz

D-Florida

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Representative Allyson Schwartz

D-Pennsylvania

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Representative Adam Smith

D-Washington

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Representative Fortney “Pete” Stark

D-California

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Representative Lynn Woolsey

D-California

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Representative John Yarmuth

D-Kentucky

The Working Mom’s Guide to the 2012 Elections

2012 Best Companies for Multicultural Women

2012 Best Companies for Hourly Workers

Taking Care: Alzheimers and Working Moms

Kelli Daley — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:36:25 GMT

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Sadwich Generation

A new survey from the Working Mother Research Institute sheds light on the severity of the squeeze for working women caught between raising kids and caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Women and Alzheimer's Disease: The Caregiver's Crisis

Creative and Flexible Child Care Solutions

Soft Addictions: Are You Hooked?

read more

Best of the Best for Working Moms in 2011

Helen Jonsen — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:57:25 GMT

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100 Best Companies Cover

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100 Best Companies 2011

Working Mother names the 100 Best Companies based on a survey of 600-plus questions about work life policies and programs. Is your company a Best Company or are you hoping to work for one?
Top Ten here
Full list here

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Best Companies for Kids 2011

Which companies have the absolute best benefits and programs for families? We name the top ten here.

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Most Powerful Moms of 2011 Named

Who are the women with children under 18 who are leading the way from Washington to 7th Avenue, from sports to technology.
Full list here.

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100 Web Sites for Working Women

We are working women and we are moms. Here at Working Mother we salute that every day and there are other sites that bring information and ideas to the table.
Forbes put together a list of 100 sites for women and broke it down as top ten for working moms, including workingmother.com
More here

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Working Mothers of the Year 2011

These women were chosen by their employers, all members of the Working Mother 100 Best Companies. How do they do it? You may find some inspiration here.

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Best Cities for Working Mothers

Quality of life is important for every family. These cities have it all including good employment numbers. Check out the top five.

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Best Places for Families to Live 2011

Another set of numbers ranks America’s cities by quality of family life.
More here.

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Best Companies for Hourly Workers 2011

Just because you don’t have a high-flying career that doesn’t mean you should not have work life benefits and opportunities for advancement. These companies provide that.
Full list here.

Most Powerful Moms of 2011

Tina Fey and Melinda Gates are the Most Powerful Moms of 2011

Flex Primer

Krista Carothers — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:57:25 GMT

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Our new book, The Agile Workforce and Workplace: A Flexibility Primer for the New Future of Work, is a step-by-step guide to creating a top-down flex strategy for your company that will allow you to avoid the legal and organizational pitfalls that can follow when such programs grow organically, without forethought and structure.

read more

What Moms Choose: The Working Mother Report

Kelli Daley — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:41:58 GMT

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Choose white paper stock

Every ten seconds a baby is born in the United States, which means someone becomes a mother or adds to her family. There are tears, joy and suddenly lots more to do. Plink! The first domino tumbles in a complex trail that ends up in a big choice: Stay at home? Go back to work? Something in between?

Download a pdf of the entire report

Related Links:

What Moms Choose: The Working Mother Report

What Moms Think White Paper

2011 Working Mother 100 Best Companies

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What Moms Choose: Stay at Home or Work?

Kelli Daley — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:29:25 GMT

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Like any mother, Rita Ross has her share of tough moments. There’s the morning scramble to get to her New York City classroom, the multiplying piles of student essays to grade, the desire to make the most of the hours she spends with her 2-year-old daughter, Sophie, and the nagging worry that her husband, Steve Bruner, is getting lost in the shuffle.

Related Links:

2011 Working Mother 100 Best Companies

What Moms Think White Paper

What Moms Choose: The Working Mother Report

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Remembering September 11th

Helen Jonsen — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:13:58 GMT

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September 11 Blue Lights

The beginning of September has been seared into our collective consciousness through fire and ash. The attacks on September 11, 2001, struck the pinnacles of American business and military might.

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Thoughts on Explaining 9-11 to Children

A Sudden Trip for Mommy

9/11 Sentiments From Afar

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The Congresswoman and Childhood Cancer

Helen Jonsen — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:58:39 GMT

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Deborah Pryce with Caroline

Caroline Pryce Walker with her mother former U.S. Congresswoman Deborah Pryce at home in 1998.

When President Nixon declared war on cancer, I was a college student planning my future. Cancer was the furthest thing from my mind. It was 1971 and the President signed the National Cancer Act into law, declaring, “I hope in the years ahead we will look back on this action today as the most significant action taken during my Administration.”

I never would have imagined that 25 years later, I would bear witness to my own 8-year-old daughter’s battle against cancer.

Related Links:

September Is... A Cancer Story

The State of Pediatric Cancer Research Funding

Take this Survey: Kids with Cancer, the Facts Will Surprise You

When Children with Cancer Return to the Classroom

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Healthy Ways to Release Anger

Kelli Daley — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:57:16 GMT

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Walk it off.

Remove yourself from an angry moment and take yourself out into fresh air. Walk around the block or to the park. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly as you walk to regulate your breathing and calm yourself down.

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Work it out.

Embrace the value of vigorous exercise in letting off steam. Heart-pumping activity—fast walking, a cardio machine at the gym, a Zumba class—puts the adrenaline that anger generates to positive use and produces endorphins, which can improve your mood.

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Write about it.

Try scribbling in a journal; ask your spouse not to read it, and stash it well away from your kids. Often, the process of writing can help you clarify your situation and release frustration.

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Talk it out.

A good therapist can help shed light on what’s bothering you and help uncover memories or behavioral patterns that influence you. Once you’re aware of anger catalysts, those powerful emotions quickly lose their grip.

Mad-Mommy Quiz

Mad-Mommy Makeover

Depression: Back to Life

Addiction Treatments that Work

Mad-Mommy Quiz

Kelli Daley — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:55:14 GMT

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Depressed_stock

In the past month, have you:

1) More than once, found it very difficult to cool off after you got angry? Yes/No

2) More than twice, had two or more alcoholic drinks at night to calm yourself down? Yes/No

3) More than once, found yourself mindlessly surfing the Web for several hours very late at night?
Yes/No

4) Experienced sleep difficulties, particularly waking in the middle of the night and having trouble falling back asleep? Yes/No

5) Without thinking, smacked your child or even your husband out of anger? Yes/No

Related Links:

Healthy Ways to Release Anger

Mad-Mommy Makeover

Defining Depression

Depression: Back to Life

read more

Mad-Mommy Makeover

Kelli Daley — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:41:26 GMT

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Mad Mommy pic

Bridget Melson knows a thing or two about helping other moms calm down. Part of the Temecula, CA, family therapist’s work involves counseling angry parents so that they can find kinder, gentler coping tactics for manic mornings, deranged dinner hours and the cranky kids who exacerbate them. So she was surprised when she recently reached her own boiling point at home. Bridget was cleaning up after making dinner for her children, Lucas, 8, Landon, 6, and Allie, 1, when she noticed that the back door was wide open—again—and the family cat had gone AWOL.

Related Links:

Healthy Ways to Release Anger

Mad-Mommy Quiz

Defining Depression

Depression: Back to Life

read more

NAFE 2010 Women of Excellence

Leah Bourne — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:21:17 GMT

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Linda J. Addonizo, MD

Director, Program for Pediatric Cardiomyopathy, Heart Failure and Transplantation, New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
Recipient of the Children's Health Advocate Award

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Susan E. Chapman

Senior Vice President, Global Real Estate and Workplace Enablement, American Express
Recipient of Community Service Award

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Valerie A. Cooper

President and Art Advisor, Picture That
Recipient of Outstanding Entrepreneur Award
Valerie Cooper said goodbye to a 15 year career at Goldman Sachs to start a fine-art consulting practice, calling the move "a calculated progression in my career." She credits her entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic to her mother. "My mother taught me to have lots of fun along life's journey," says Cooper. "She believed in dancing until your feet hurt and laughing continuously while doing so."

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Pamela J. Craig

Chief Financial Officer, Accenture
Recipient of Mentorship Award

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Lisa Gable

Program Manager, IBM Global Women's Initiatives
Recipient of Global Awareness Award

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Jennifer L. Howse, PhD

President, March of dimes Foundation
Recipient of Woman of Achievement Award

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Rita Henley Jensen

Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Women's eNews
Recipient of Social Media Star
"I always wanted to tell women's stories," says Rita Henley Jensen. "And strongly believe the dominant media were not doing the job." This conviction led Jensen to start and independent e-news service in 2000 to tell women's stories. She was early adopter of the Internet and says, "I was excited to take advantage of this new tool."

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Barbara Kobren

President and CEO, Bobby Sue's Nuts
Recipient of Creative Star Award

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Janet Malzone

Partner and Mid-Atlantic International Business Center Director, Grant Thornton
Recipient of Rising Star Award

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Stephanie Miller

Director, Office of Women's Policy, U.S. Navy
Recipient of Activist Award

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Oraia Reid

Executive Director and Founder, RightRides for Women's Safety
Recipient of Service to NYC Award

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Johnna G. Torsone

Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Pitney Bowes
Recipient of Health Care Champion Award

NAFE Women of Excellence 2009 in pictures

Addicted Moms Chilling Stats: In Pictures

Kelli Daley — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:43:52 GMT

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Alarming Statistic

The number of women ages 30–44 who abuse alcohol has doubled over the past decade.

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Pharma Factor

Women are 55% more likely than men to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

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Dangerous Trend

5.3 million women in the United States drink in a way that threatens their safety, health and well-being.

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400%

is how much prescription drug abuse has risen over the past decade.

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4.6 Million

women in the US are alcoholics.

Quiz: Are You an Alcoholic?

Addicted Moms: What About the Kids?

Addicted Moms: Tips to Support Someone in Trouble

Addicted Moms: Everybody Knows Somebody

Quiz: Are You an Alcoholic?

Kelli Daley — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:54:31 GMT

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cocktail

Q: Do you ever lose time at work because of drinking?

Yes
No

Q: Is drinking making your home life unhappy?

Yes
No

Q: Do you drink because you are shy with other people?

Yes
No

Q: Is drinking affecting your reputation?

Related Links:

Addicted Moms: Everybody Knows Somebody

read more

Addiction Treatments that Work

Kelli Daley — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:46:20 GMT

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doctor patient

Invite Intervention

Related Links:

Addicted Moms: Everybody Knows Somebody

Addicted Moms Chilling Stats: In Pictures

Addicted Moms: Tips to Support Someone in Trouble

Addicted Moms: What About the Kids?

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Addicted Moms: What About the Kids?

Kelli Daley — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:44:33 GMT

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sad child

If Mom has a problem, kids often have a problem, too. “When moms drink or use drugs, it can have a big impact on children, greater than when dads drink,” says E. Mark Cummings, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame. “Mothers are usually more involved in kids’ lives, so their drinking causes bigger family adjustment problems.”

Security is undermined

Related Links:

Addicted Moms Chilling Stats: In Pictures

Addicted Moms: Everybody Knows Somebody

Addicted Moms: Tips to Support Someone in Trouble

Addiction Treatments that Work

read more

Addicted Moms: Tips to Support Someone in Trouble

Kelli Daley — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:41:22 GMT

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valium

Be supportive and nonjudgmental. Bring up your concern when your coworker is sober, says Kathryn Cunningham, PhD, director of the Center for Addiction Research at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Stress the fact that you care about this person and you’ve noticed some signs or symptoms that concern you. “It often helps to have a log of the observations that have led you to this conclusion,” she suggests.

Related Links:

Addicted Moms: Everybody Knows Somebody

Addicted Moms: What About the Kids?

read more

Addicted Moms: Everybody Knows Somebody

Kelli Daley — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:37:26 GMT

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wineglass

She was so stressed that day. The book signing was just six hours away. Soon 300 people would be pouring through the ballroom doors. As community relations manager for a national bookstore in Des Moines, IA, Cindy Sharp had been working on this highly anticipated event for months. She’d ordered the books, made sure the tables were set up, arranged to have the author introduced. So many people were counting on her.

Related Links:

Addicted Moms Chilling Stats: In Pictures

Addicted Moms Chilling Stats: In Pictures

Addicted Moms: What About the Kids?

Addiction Treatments that Work

read more

Career vs. Paycheck: The Working Mother Report

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:48:03 GMT

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After dangling from monkey bars and shooting through the sky on twirling tire swings, 8-year-old Akila suddenly stopped in front of a slide and beamed at her mother. “In that moment my daughter realized, This is a project my mom worked on,” says Alexandrea DavisShaw, a city engineer in Sarasota, FL. While playground design isn’t all fun and games, the hard work feels worth it when your kid thinks you rock. “Seeing the playground made my work real to her. She thought it was the coolest,” adds Alexandrea.

Related Links:

2010 Working Mother 100 Best Companies

2010 Best Companies for Multicultural Women Executive Summary

Best Companies for Multicultural Women 2010

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CEO Lessons from the Top 10 Best Companies

Kelli Daley — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:02:47 GMT

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David Anderson-WellStar Health System

Executive Vice President, Human Resources

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Barry Salzberg -Deloitte

CEO

A common casualty of economic downturns is work-life programs. Cost containment is important in difficult times, but we also know that successfully integrating work and life is critical to the morale and productivity of a workforce. This is why we take a customized approach to career development, allowing employees to dial down or dial up their hours, pace and other career dimensions to fit various life stages.

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Bob Moritz-PricewaterhouseCoopers

U.S. Chairman & Senior Partner

At PWC we believe it's more important than ever to find creative ways to recognize, connect with and reward our people, given the difficult environment we've all been facing. One particularly meaningful way to engage and thank them is to offer time off. With that in mind, we gave all 30,000 PWC people an additional paid holiday over July 4, providing them with a four-day weekend to recharge and unwind.

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James S. Turley-Ernst & Young

Global Chairman & CEO

The stress of the past two years fell on everybody–not just the senior executives of companies, and in our case, not just on our partners. Everyone sought a better understanding of what was happening in the world's economies–what the impact would be on our firm and, most personally, what the impact would be on his or her own job. Only by increasing the frequency of communication, and the candor, were we able to keep our people engaged and focused on the needs of our many clients.

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Donna Katen-Bahensky-University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics

President & CEO

Staff engagement is one of our most important strategies because of its direct connection with the quality of the patient experience. We rolled out an instant online recognition program where staff can send electronic kudos to a colleague. And we also recently introduced new scholarship options, complementing our already robust tuition reimbursement program.

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Samuel Palmisano Chairman-IBM

Chairman, President & CEO

We encourage employees to connect and engage through social media, and we continue to innovate with workplace programs: investing in child and elder care, leadership in flexible work, diversity, employee learning and work-life integration. We want employees to know they are valued, and we trust them to develop skills for their future–and for the company's as well.

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Ken Powell-General Mills

Chairman & CEO

Engaged employees drive our business. The most important way that we enhance this engagement is by truly valuing what each and every person does for General Mills–and by ensuring that every employee is empowered and challenged to grow, develop and deliver value. It is easier said than done, but it starts with strong, committed, engaged leadership.

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Brian T. Moynihan-Bank of America

President & CEO

Supporting our associates who are working mothers is not just the right thing to do, it also gives us an advantage in the competition for talent. Investing in our greatest assets–our associates–is the most direct route to more satisfied customers, expanding customer relationships and a growing business.

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David Zaslav-Discovery Communications

President & CEO

Commitment to employees isn't something that can ebb and flow with the economy; it has to be sustained. We've continued to invest in learning tools and health and wellness services for our workforce, which ultimately saves the company money. Having an engaged and empowered workforce is always critical to success, but it is particularly important when times are tough.

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John Veihmeyer-KPMG

Chairman & CEO

Knowing the value our people place on person-to-person career development, we redoubled our mentoring efforts and aligned them with our diversity initiatives. The economic challenges have taught us that being an employer of choice means more than investing monetary resources. It's also about innovating and adapting what we already have to sustain an environment where people feel recognized and fully engaged and trust that leadership at all levels is committed to supporting them.

2011 Best Companies for Hourly Workers

Friends of Karen: Lifting the Lives of Families with Critically-Ill Children

Kelli Daley — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:31:53 GMT

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Friends of Karen Logo

It’s hard to imagine hearing your child has cancer. It’s hard to wrap your head around it and even know where to begin, or who to go to for answers to questions you haven’t even begun to ask.

Related Links:

Kids with Cancer: Addie's Story

Kids with Cancer: Inspirations

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Deadly Distraction

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:00:00 GMT

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Linda Doyle set out in her car for her daily volunteer work at the Oklahoma Humane Society, feeding a population of feral cats. The light turned green at the exit from her Oklahoma City community, and she drove out. Moments later, a 20-year-old driver who’d been talking on his cell phone for less than a minute ran a red light and hit her car at 45 miles per hour. Linda, 61, was pronounced dead that night from blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest.

Related Links:

Custody Lost

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