Here's the fact sheet on Women in America, which the Whitehouse publishes each March. No surprises: women are delaying marriage, delaying childbirth, and (like the general population) are aging. We are also more likely than men to be poor.
What I particularly like are the policy initiative (and proposed initiatives) to combat inequality and support women. Supporting women supports families (and vice vesa).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/WomenInAmerica_FactSheet.pdf
Showing posts with label family policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family policy. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
State of the Discipline
Things are changing, and from the looks of it, not for the better.
Membership is down, participation in annual meeting is down, programs are being closed and dismantled. Even worse, no one seems to know what or who we are, or even that we exist. Some even think that cable television is a suitable replacement for our long dead profession.
The state of the discipline is weak and uncertain, but not without hope.
Annual meeting must not simply be a social club, but also a place where serious work gets accomplished, and like-minded individuals can connect. We must leave feeling that we learned something of value that we couldn't have learned someplace else.
Research must be more than a word that is carelessly tossed about, it must be a passion that is rigorously pursued. Research, especially interdisciplinary research, must become a central part of our mission.
Policy, especially family policy, must be something that we take seriously and develop our own positions on (and, dare I dream, advocate for those positions?). Restating other organizations' position statements or recommendations does nothing but prove our own redundancy.
Controversy is not to be feared. It is to be tackled head on. We are adults. And if we're not, we don't deserve to call ourselves professionals.
Looking backward only serves us if we intend to use the past to inform the present and future.
To survive, we must first answer one simple question. What does AAFCS provide that is unique? The answer, in my opinion, has to do with the interdisciplinary and applied nature of the field. Let's focus on doing that well.
Who am I to give the state of the profession? I am the profession. So are all of you out there. Let's not wait for others to define us or write our obituary.
Membership is down, participation in annual meeting is down, programs are being closed and dismantled. Even worse, no one seems to know what or who we are, or even that we exist. Some even think that cable television is a suitable replacement for our long dead profession.
The state of the discipline is weak and uncertain, but not without hope.
Annual meeting must not simply be a social club, but also a place where serious work gets accomplished, and like-minded individuals can connect. We must leave feeling that we learned something of value that we couldn't have learned someplace else.
Research must be more than a word that is carelessly tossed about, it must be a passion that is rigorously pursued. Research, especially interdisciplinary research, must become a central part of our mission.
Policy, especially family policy, must be something that we take seriously and develop our own positions on (and, dare I dream, advocate for those positions?). Restating other organizations' position statements or recommendations does nothing but prove our own redundancy.
Controversy is not to be feared. It is to be tackled head on. We are adults. And if we're not, we don't deserve to call ourselves professionals.
Looking backward only serves us if we intend to use the past to inform the present and future.
To survive, we must first answer one simple question. What does AAFCS provide that is unique? The answer, in my opinion, has to do with the interdisciplinary and applied nature of the field. Let's focus on doing that well.
Who am I to give the state of the profession? I am the profession. So are all of you out there. Let's not wait for others to define us or write our obituary.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
End of Life Options
Who should be advocating for end of life options for elder Americans (or anyone with a terminal illness)? Family and Consumer Scientists, that's who. Where are we on this issue? So far, seems like we're silent. But the voices shouting about "death panels" and euthanasia are heard loud and clear. Lies, Damn Lies...and we all lose.
http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2011/01/the-new-year-in-health-care-reform-good-news-and-bad-for-older-americans
http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2011/01/the-new-year-in-health-care-reform-good-news-and-bad-for-older-americans
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Happy 2011!
And here are some of the policy issues we should pay attention to in the new year (drumroll?):
- repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (done, but yet to be implemented...long overdue)
- attempted repeal of healthcare reform (want to know what's in it? Go to http://healthreform.kff.org/)
- breastfeeding friendly workplace legislation being phased in (some good news--for more go to feed://www.whitehouse.gov/feed/blog/cwg) -- thanks to healthcare reform law
- attempt to privatize and otherwise whittle away at entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security
- Immigration Reform (http://www.asianjournal.com/dateline-usa/15-dateline-usa/8584-immigration-reform-needed-for-economic-growth-bloomberg.html; http://www.newsmax.com/US/DREAM-immigrationreform-CenterforImmigrationStudies-ACLU/2010/12/30/id/381465)
- attempted investigations of everything and everyone under the sun (to keep us good and distracted)
Why am I telling you this? I recall that the nation voted in a mostly new cast of characters who are talking a lot about compromise, bipartisanship, and working together for the good of the American people. I recall a lot of concern about the national debt. Someone will have to make sure these clowns remember their "mandate." If we don't do it, we'll only have ourselves to blame when all we get is a lot of theatrics and no results.
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