^înrthmb (Ohsertier
May 2, 2012
Page A9
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¿¡fcY New Prices
< / Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG
$45.00
A sm all distance/travel charge
m ay be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: I sm all H allway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (1 2 -1 6 sta irs - With
O th e r S ervices): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Declaring War on Women, Moms or Not
GOP gender chasm may get bigger
M artha B lrk
T h e s o - c a lle d
"m om m y w ars" are
h e a tin g up ag ain .
O nce m ore, w e ’re
s e e in g
s ta y - a t-
hom e m om s sup­
posedly pitted against m om s w ith
paid jo b s during an election year.
T he latest episode started w hen
D em ocratic analyst H ilary R osen
questioned A nn R om ney's cred en ­
tials for serving as her husband's
adviser on w om en's econom ic p ri­
orities, saying R om ney had "never
w orked a day in h er life." R osen
so o n a p o lo g iz e d , in s is tin g she
m eant no offense to stay-at-hom e
m om s like A nn R om ney.
But w ith a fam ily nest egg o f at
least $200 m illion, A nn's econom ic
view is rather distant from the van­
tage point o f the m illions o f A m eri­
can w om en w orking for the m in i­
m um w age. A nd nearly tw o-thirds
o f m inim um -w age w orkers are adult
w om en. In case you haven't done
the m ath, at the current $7.25 per
hour, that's $ 15,080 per year w ith no
vacation.
B ut th e d ic h o to m y b e tw e e n
"w orking m others" and those w ho
stay at hom e w ith kids is false. Even
by
though we trot out the flow ers and
overdone pancakes every M other's
D ay, the truth is w e don't value our
m others very m uch in this country
— at least not as a m atter o f social
policy.
Take the w age gap. W om en w ork­
ing full-time and year-round earn 78
cents on the dollar w hen com pared to
men. But that's not the whole story.
According to M omsRising.org, m oth­
ers earn 27 percent less than their
male counterparts, and single m oth­
ers earn a w hopping 34 to 44 percent
less than men.
A nd those stay-at-hom e m om s
w ho care for their kids and elderly
parents? T hey get a big fat zero in
their Social Security accounts for
every year they stay out o f the
w o rk fo rce . O th e r in d u stria liz e d
countries grant "caregiver credits"
for such family service. U.S. w omen's
groups have been cam paigning for
this for years, but w hat they get in
return are proposals to privatize
Social Security o r do aw ay w ith it
altogether.
M ore m others m ight jo in the
w orkforce if they could rely on d e ­
cent, affordable child care. T hat's
an o th er area w here o u r national
policies fall w oefully short. M any
European countries have som e form
o f universal ch ild care. T hey treat it
as a benefit com parable to a public
school education. N ot here.
In the U nited States, child care is
view ed as a strictly personal prob­
lem except for the poorest fam ilies.
A ccording to the N ational A ssocia­
tion o f C h ild C are R esource and
R eferral A gencies, child care is the
second-largest fam ily expenditure,
running from $3,850 to $ 18,200 per
child per year. By contrast, tuition at
a state university averages $7,600
p er year. A nd even if a few w orking
m others do have the big bucks to
pay for child care, and then have
som ething left in their piggy banks,
it doesn't solve the problem . R eli­
able child care centers are hard to
find, since m any are c o rp o rate-
o w ned and squeeze the em ployees
(overw helm ingly fem ale) with noto­
riously low w ages and few benefits.
D uring the R osen-R om ney flap,
M om sR ising C E O K ristin R ow e-
F inkbeiner noted that we don't re­
ally have a "m om m y war" here. W hat
w e have is a w ar on m om m ies —
w orking outside the hom e o r not.
O ur national policies w ould seem
to support that view . M itt R om ney,
as usual, is on both sides. For him ,
it depends on w hether you're talk ­
ing about rich m om m ies o r poor
• a.«
o n es.
W hile he c ertain ly su p p o rted
A nn's decision to stay hom e to raise
th eir five sons, the de facto R epub­
lican presidential nom inee said in
January that he'd tell m others re­
ceiving public assistance, "Even if
y ou have a child tw o years o f age,
y ou need to go to w ork ... A nd
people said, W ell that's heartless.'
A nd I said, 'No, no. I'm w illing to
spend m ore giving day care to allow
those parents to go back to w ork.
It'll cost the state m ore providing
that day care, but I w ant the indi­
viduals to have the dignity o f w ork.'"
If R om ney gets elected, w e'll see
ab o u t that ch ild care prom ise.
W om en have com prised the m a­
jo rity o f voters for o v er a g en era­
tion. T hat m eans w om en, m ost o f
w hom are also m others, can control
any election if w e vote o u r ow n
priorities. It's about tim e w e did.
C N N 's latest p olling show s that
w om en support P resident B arack
O bam a by 16 percentage points over
R om ney, w hose party is m ost a s­
suredly d eclarin g w ar on w om en,
m om s or not. A nd that gender chasm
m ay get even bigger.
Martha Burk is the director o f
the C o rp o ra te A c c o u n ta b ility
Project fo r the National Council o f
Women's Organizations.
.
at-ar ■» a**
a"a -
Area/Oriental Rugs ( Wool):
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services): $5.00
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