• Last updated 11/19/12 by Hoyamum

By Lisa Hassan Scott         “Well, when you come to visit, I can try to see if I can get a portable crib.” My husband and I were planning our first visit to his parents’ house, and my in-laws were really excited.  “That won’t be necessary,” I said, “the baby will just sleep with us.”  A silence.  “With you?  But won’t you roll on top of her?”  And so began a conversation about parenting that has been going on for ten years.  At first, I felt uncomfortable and defensive of our choices.  Everything we were doing was so, well, different from the choices our... read more

• Last updated 4/1/13 by mamazee

It's ambitious. Highlights: Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit: In both the Illinois State Senate and the U.S. Senate, Obama championed efforts to expand the EITC, which is one of the most successful anti-poverty programs to date. President Obama will reward work by increasing the number of working parents eligible for EITC benefits, increasing the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments, and reducing the EITC marriage penalty which hurts low-income families. Under the Obama-Biden plan, full-time workers making... read more

• Last updated 4/1/13 by mamazee

[From an op-ed in progress...] It's a new media trend: Since 80 percent of people laid off in the recession have been guys, pundits and journalists are asking themselves if this will cause men to do more at home. More women as breadwinners and more men at home is "a thought to file under 'let's try to find a silver lining,' " writes Lisa Belkin at the New York Times.  Slate's Emily Bazelon takes a dimmer view, imagining "a family with a husband rattling around the house, unemployed and unsettled about it, while his wife keeps working but brings home a paycheck... read more