One group works to give mothers a voice in family policies shaping children’s future
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Women and Children First?
Single mothers raising children under the age of 18 make up more than a third of the families meeting the federal poverty definition in North Carolina. That’s $20,030 a year, before taxes, for a mother with two children working 40 hours a week. This new project brings together advocates, public policy experts and others, while giving moms across the state a platform to tell their stories. Over the coming months, we hope to identify policies that N.C. and local government can enact to help families in need, including those that the official poverty definitions miss.
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MomsRising wants to see families, and especially single moms, at the table when lawmakers talk about the problems and policies affecting their lives.
The conversation is never about just one issue, said Beth Messersmith, campaign director for MomsRising’s North Carolina, which brings women and families together to share resources, advocate for their needs and push for better government policies.
She recounted the story of a mom who had to go to work at a fast-food restaurant a few years ago, after a heavy snow had closed the schools. She paid for child care, and to take two buses to work, but when she got there, they didn’t need her because there were no customers.
But if she had not gone to work, she would have lost her job, Messersmith said.
“When you talk about family economic security, you’re talking about lots of different things, from living wages and workplace policies to child care, and what happens when you don’t have those, and needing some housing support and food support — all those different issues that come together to affect families,” she said.
“We fundamentally believe that we need policies that help lift all families and give them the opportunity to thrive, that we have to address inequities and structural racism that has caused many of these problems, that is at the root of many of these problems, and that it’s incredibly important that voices of the folks who are directly affected are heard in the decision making at the local, state and federal levels,” she said.
One of the most important ways MomsRising does that is by connecting mothers and teaching them to use their voices and tell stories to advocate for what their families need, she said.
MomsRising volunteers also show up at demonstrations, talk to the media, and write letters to and lobby lawmakers. The focus this year is the nonpartisan MomsVote program, which spreads public awareness about the issues and the candidates, with an eye on turning out the vote in the 2022 midterm elections, Messersmith said.
The other part of what they do is breaking down barriers that keep people from using the services that will help them, she said.
“I talk about this with all the families that I talk to,” Messersmith said. “There is no shame in working your butt off for your family and not being able to still make ends meet. The shame is that we have a system that makes that possible.”
More about MomsRising North Carolina
▪ Website: momsrising.org
▪ State chapter: NC MomsRising
▪ Highlights: The national organization has two nonprofit arms: the public charity MomsRising Education Fund, and the social welfare group MomsRising Together. In North Carolina, the MomsRising chapter collaborates with up to 50 other organizations.
▪ Ways to get involved: Write a letter, call or visit your elected officials to advocate for better family policies, join a demonstration, sign people up to vote and encourage them to go to the polls on Election Day, make a donation to MomsRising or join a campaign drive for a local group helping families.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhy we're doing this project
Single mothers raising children under age 18 make up more than a third of the families meeting the federal poverty definition in North Carolina. That’s $23,030 a year, before taxes, for a mother with two children working 40 hours a week.
The News & Observer’s “Women & Children First?” project will bring together advocates, public policy experts and others, while giving moms across the state a platform to tell their stories. We hope to identify policies over the coming months that North Carolina and local governments can enact to help families in need, including those that official poverty definitions miss.
If you think we are missing something, have information to share or ideas for our next stories, contact reporter Tammy Grubb at 919-829-8926 or tgrubb@heraldsun.com or deputy metro editor Mark Schultz at mschultz@newsobserver.com.
Read more stories from the “Women and Children First?” project at newsobserver.com or heraldsun.com.
This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "One group works to give mothers a voice in family policies shaping children’s future."
