(From the Wall Street Journal blogs) Women have nearly achieved equality with men in today’s workforce, with one glaring exception: Mothers. Once women step away from the workforce to raise their kids or provide other care for their families, their careers suffer in terms of pay and promotions, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. Fathers who take time off pay a big price, too—but it’s still mainly women who act as caregivers. “Women do almost as well as men today,” said Jane Waldfogel, a Columbia University professor quoted in the piece, “as long as they don’t have children.” The column offers some interesting policy recommendations to help make the workplace friendlier to those who serve as caregivers. Most intriguing is a simple, inexpensive idea for changing workplace culture: Simply allowing workers the right to ask for a part-time or flexible schedule, as a new British law requires. Under that rule, employers can still say no, but most haven’t. Read more.

Read the original:
WSJ: Women Near Equal at Work, Mothers Fall Behind