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Written by Hsien Hsien Lei

SSA-USA While watching an ESPN football (soccer) highlights show this evening, one of the commentators was asked what he thought of the ridiculously high salaries of many footballers today.

“They [the footballers] should take what’s offered to them. It’s not an easy job,” he said.

“You should take what they offer you, S,” my husband said. “And give it to Baba, ok?” (Baba is the Chinese word for father.)

“No,” S answered.

“Then who are you going to give all the money to?” I asked.

“Give to Mama!” my feminist three-year-old said.

I swear I’ve never told our son anything about our finances let alone how my own financial security may have been compromised because i gave up full-time work to follow his father around the world and later, become a stay-at-home mother.

Any American woman (and women in many other developed countries as well) who has taken time out of the paid labor force to raise children or care for elderly parents will:

See a reduction in their social security benefits or other retirement funds.

Have lower lifetime earnings even upon returning to work because of the years of “lost productivity” and because men still get paid more than women.
Lose interest on investments that either didn’t get made or didn’t have enough time to mature.
Miss out on disability insurance coverage for themselves and their family.

Until we give stay-at-home moms the same benefits as everyone else who contributes to society, there will be women facing poverty and no medical care in old age. That is, unless sons and daughters remember their mothers.

For more information, see the National Organization for Women.

Graphic by Joi Kautz/Polianna.com

Hsien Hsien Lei
		About the author:
		First things first, you can either call me Hsien (shen) or Lei (like the Hawaiian floral lei). I am a Chinese-American expat currently living in Vietnam with my husband and three-year-old son, but we’re moving on to London in January 2006! Having the opportunity to write for eMothersOnline is extremely exciting for me. Since I became a mother, I’ve felt that mothers are often brushed off and not taken as seriously as they deserve. This applies to all mothers whether they are stay-at-home moms, work-at-home moms, work-out-of-home moms, or whatever other hyphenated permutation of mothers you can think of. While we will, of course, talk about our kids at eMothersOnline, we’ll be focusing more on YOU and US as individuals who deserve to be bolstered, appreciated, and encouraged. It’s not about being aggressive, but being assertive. And what do I do aside from being a motherhood cheerleader? I’ve worked in the healthcare industry since I was in high school and have a PhD in genetic epidemiology (the study of the genetic causes and distribution of diseases in the population). Soon after becoming pregnant, I changed my career path and started working as a freelance consultant, science editor, and writer. Nowadays, I spend most of my time playing slave to my toddler and writing for a few other blogs: Cotton-Pickin’ Days - my personal blog, Children’s Books, Toys, and Things Blog, Genetics and Public Health Blog, and healthcare.wurk.net (a healthcare career advice blog). Hope you’ll come visit me at these places too!
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