The Aspen Institute

Audio (MP3)

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About the Event

In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day, a holiday created by Americans to honor our moms and their influence in society. With the presence of women with children in the workforce increasing, mothers are not only the glue that holds our homes together, but they are also the fuel helping to drive our economic recovery. Two-thirds of women with young children now work and nearly half are the primary breadwinner within their family. As more moms enter the workforce and “lean in” to build a successful career and household, however, the affordable, quality early care and education system their families need to lean on is noticeably absent. The women and moms working in the early care and education industry also face significant challenges. Low wages, few benefits and limited training or advancement opportunities are widespread in the early care and education industry, which contributes to high worker turnover, further eroding the quality of care. In this event, speakers discuss how we can have both an early care and education system that provides good jobs and quality, affordable care.

Featured speakers

Helen Blank
Director of Child Care and Early Learning, National Women’s Law Center

Susan Brenner
Senior Vice President of Education, Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Denise Dowell
Director Early Learning and Care Programs, CSEA

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
Executive Director, CEO, and Co-Founder, MomsRising

Moderator

Catherine Rampell
Reporter, The New York Times

This event is part of the Working in America series, an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program that highlights an array of critical issues affecting low- and moderate-income workers in the United States and ideas for improving and expanding economic opportunities for working people. For more information, visit as.pn/workinginamerica.

Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #talkgoodjobs.

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