National Working Mothers Day (NWMD) is a holiday that happens on March 12 each year. The term “working mothers” didn’t really occur until the 1940’s when World War II occurred. A lot of fathers went to war leaving the mother all by herself to support the house and children. This eventually led to mothers taking over the jobs that men left behind in order to pay bills and get food. Mothers had to balance working a job, while taking care of their children, which is why they get the name “Working” Mothers.
In 1962, the child care act was passed to help families with taking care of their children, an attempt to help working mothers around the country. In 1983, American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) established National Working Mothers day on March 12 to celebrate and recognize working mothers. While Working Mothers become recognized throughout America there still isn’t a ton of support for them at this time; however, the Family Medical Leave Act was passed in 1993 which provides job-protected unpaid leave for family and medical emergencies, which is beneficial for many working mothers at this time. This act basically protects mothers who are the sole provider for their families and allows them to attend an emergency while still receiving an income.
The Affordable Care Act was passed which expands health care coverage to more families, and in turn assists working mothers across the country, but National Working Mothers Day got less awareness and almost became a forgotten holiday by the mid-2000’s. The holiday saw a resurgence in 2020 when Susannah Lago, of the Working Moms of Milwaukee (WMM), brought more limelight to the National Working Mothers Day. She created a network in Milwaukee that allowed mothers to socialize, and share experiences. This in turn created a social space that allowed working mothers to relate and possibly help one another. Susan did this in hopes to assist struggling working mothers during Covid. However, this act became more popular then she originally thought and branched out to other working moms outside of milwaukee. With the rapid increase in awareness of working mothers, the national holiday came back into the limelight. Any Working Mother that may want to participate in this group can find it under the hashtag #WorkingMomsDay.
Working Mothers are not that hard to find either. It could be your own mother, your teacher, and even close friends. There are several teachers at ACIT who are experienced working mothers. Ms. Bayly DiPilato, an English teacher and trainer here at ACIT, and Ms. Jennifer Pirie, an English teacher, are two staff members that we interviewed. Ms. DiPilato offered some tips for working moms, stating that “Time management, time management is huge, especially I think in teaching. Prior to having kids its easy to say I’ll just take some of this work home… but once you have kids that changes.”
Ms. Pirie advocated for working mothers that are overwhelmed by their situation, advising that they avoid “being too hard on themself. Being a working mother can make you feel like you’re not giving enough. Sometimes you feel that you’re taking care of your kids and neglecting your job. Other days you might feel like you’re killing it at work but ignoring your children. Most times, you’re doing better than you think at both.”.
Ms. DiPlato and Ms. Pirie are not the only working mothers that can be found in the world. There are so many amazing working mothers throughout the world; so, take a moment to thank one.
