I knew children were expensive but...

After reading "Mommy Tax" I realized how much children really cost. Children are already expensive because they are human beings that need to be taken care of, but I never realized that having a child can cause women such a large loss in wages. Women should not be "taxed" for having children. Motherhood is a necessity of life, so why does American society punish women for having children? Doesn't a person realize that without his or her mother he or she would not exist? One would think that society would try to make a mother's work easier not harder. Also, women should not have to give up motherhood because of unfair work policies. Giving up children is not what needs to change. It is the work policies that need to be reformed.  American society does not give mothers more flexibility in the work place, yet America dedicates Mother's Day to the American mothers as a way of saying "Thank you." If American society really wants to thank mothers, then mothers should receive benefits similar to the ones that women receive in France and Sweden.

American mothers should receive the support that they need from work places and society in general. Writer Gwendolyn Mink advocates for support of mothers monetarily. Gwendolyn Mink argues that stay-at-home moms should be paid for their work. I completely agree. I do think that being a stay-at-home mom is a job in many ways. Mink makes a good point when she calls attention to the fact that when women are doing "motherly" duties in someone else's home they can be paid for those duties, so it does not make sense to me that what stay-at-home moms do would not be considered work. Besides, not all mothers are able to work in the traditional sense. I know a single mom who has to stay home because she has a mute, mentally challenged child. She chooses to take care of him instead of working, although she would like to join the work force. Should she be punished for opting to take care of her child? I personally do not think so. Hopefully, welfare reform will not continue to make changes to the welfare policies that do not benefit lower class women.