MomsRising Responds to President Obama’s State of the Union

Reaction by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and co-founder of MomsRising to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight:

On Early Childhood Education:

"Childcare now costs more than college in most states in our nation. Moms across the nation applauded to hear President Obama speak to the importance of investing in early learning for all children. These early investments in our youngest and smallest save taxpayer dollars in the long run and helps fuel our future economy."

On Fair Pay:

“America’s moms strongly support President Obama in calling for the passage of the reintroduced Paycheck Fairness Act which would penalize employers for violation of equal pay laws, prohibit retaliation against employees who ask about wage practices, empower women to negotiate for equal pay, and strengthen equal pay laws. This bill is crucial to family economic security, as well as to our national economy. Women are half of the entire paid labor force for the first time in history, and three-quarters of mom are in the labor force, yet wage and hiring discrimination is still the norm. It's time for our nation to catch up to modern realities. When women, who make more than half of all purchasing decisions, don't have funds in their pockets to spend, it hurts us all.”

MomsRising.org is an online and on-the-ground grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to achieve economic security for all families in the United States. MomsRising is working for paid family leave, flexible work options, affordable childcare, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes so many others. MomsRising also advocates for health care for all, toxic-free environments, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families. In 2012, Forbes.com named MomsRising’s web site as one of the Top 100 Websites For Women for the third year in a row.