In THE PRICE OF MOTHERHOOD: Why the Most Important Job Is Still the Least Valued (Henry Holt; 2001), award-winning economics journalist Ann Crittenden argues that mothers are systematically disadvantaged and made dependent by a society that pretends to celebrate the labor of child-rearing while undermining those who perform it. Sounds politicky and a little too strident, yes? That's what I thought when I first picked it up. After all, I want to be a mother, I chose to be a mother, and darn it, I'm good at it!

Five pages into the introduction, I was angry. Ten pages in, and I was hooked. This is no run-of-the-mill rant. This is a thoughtfully written, original and somehow radical book about exactly what is going on in the lives of millions of American mothers. Yes, we want to be mothers, yes we choose to be mothers, and yes, we're good at it. But then, why don't we get any credit?

By the media, by the designers of the census, mothers who raise children are seen as non-workers, invisible to the labor force and the GNP -- this even though several agencies have estimated that unpaid labor done by women in the U.S. may outweigh paid labor hours.

As the author so convincingly points out, mothers (or caretakers for children in general) have a big hand in "producing" the most important "resource" this country can offer -- healthy bodies, healthy minds, and obedient taxpayers.

Sure, it sounds cold. But sometimes it works best to present an argument in a way that cannot be shot down by economists and labor experts, even if it is dehumanizing.

If you shudder at this chilly terminology, the rest of the book will warm you. Ms. Crittendon offers stories about mothers from around the world who have questioned the assumption that unpaid work is not work at all. My favorite is the story of a Canadian mother of three who refused to tell a Census worker that she did no work, just because her work was unpaid. She threatened to leave her census form blank (which is illegal in Canada) unless the government changed the definition of work, or included "unpaid work" as an option. She won her case, and now the unpaid work of caretakers and volunteers of all stripes is recorded with each census.

If you are a mother, if you know a mother, if you have a mother, or even if you are thinking of being a mother -- this book is a very worthwhile read. It makes you remember just how important human beings really are.
                        -Julia Mossbridge, MA

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NEXT guest book review of "Motherhood"

With THE PRICE OF MOTHERHOOD: Why the Most Important Job Is Still the Least Valued, economist Ann Crittenden delivers powerful evidence of both the absolute value and the devaluation of those who perform the care of others in the United States. She shows how women have been taken advantage of by a lazy society, unconcerned for the care and creation of the next generation of citizens. She paints a frightening picture but offers suggestions for remedies: for example, redesigning the American work week to accommodate parental needs. The Price of Motherhood points out the pathology of a country that doesn't see that, as Theodore Roosevelt said (Crittenden's quote), "The good mother, the wise mother . . . is more important to the community than even the ablest man; her career is more worthy of honor and is more useful to the community than the career of any man, no matter how successful."
                - Catherine Jennifer Walbridge

Get The Price of Motherhood at amazon.com at a 20% discount by clicking here.

Jenny Walbridge is an artist and writer living in Chicago. She also happens to be the daughter of Jean Walbridge, who answers parents' and teens' questions at this site.

Ann Crittenden's book is highly recommended.

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