Mothers want flexible work options, not subsidies and restrictions

The surgeon general’s latest advisory warns about the mental health implications of parenthood.

While acknowledging some of the joys of parenthood, the report paints a dark picture of parenthood overall. It offers supposed solutions, such as increasing child care subsidies, supporting universal preschool and establishing a national paid family and medical leave program. These programs come with assumptions about what parents, including mothers, want.

Instead of creating more programs to take care of the children, one way to reduce stress on parents is to make part-time work easier. Not everyone wants part-time work. But certainly, many parents are willing to trade off pay for more time.

Here's an example. A majority of states provide a way for lawyers who pass the bar examination in one state to be licensed without having to take another bar examination, commonly known as reciprocity. This is a huge benefit, saving attorneys money and time. 

A handful of states, however, require that lawyers practice full-time immediately preceding their application to be eligible for reciprocity. That means that if a mom chooses to reduce her hours to spend more time with her children, she is no longer eligible for admission without examination.

These states with full-time work requirements make it more difficult for part-time lawyers, many of whom are women, to practice after moving to the state, as would then have to take another bar examination.

Many women choose to work part-time. Women make up about two-thirds of voluntary part-time workers. About one in five working women worked part-time voluntarily in 2016. Many of these part-time workers chose part-time work to spend more time with their children. Around 30 percent of moms with children under the age of 18 at home prefer to work part-time, according to a Pew Research Center study.

The choice to work fewer weekly hours does not imply that an attorney is any less competent. It just means the attorney is choosing to spend less time working and more time doing something else. The goal of politicians should be to maximize workplace options, not to maximize full-time labor force participation. These part-time lawyers shouldn’t be penalized.

Part-time work is one way people create flexible work, which can make parenting easier. Unnecessary occupational licensing creates obstacles for all Americans, including women. Policies that give women more part-time work options, and that make that work easier to obtain, benefit all Americans, especially working moms.

Instead of telling mothers what they want, I hope the next president focuses on workplace policies that give women maximum freedom to set up the work-life situation that is best for them. Part of that is acknowledging that women know what they want, and that will vary individually. More options will make it easier for women to reduce stress.

Karin A. Lips is the president of the Network of Enlightened Women as well as a senior fellow with Independent Women's Forum.