Group items tagged

Care.com is an excellent resource that I personally have used for years and have referred many people to. Basically, care.com is a website which helps families find and hire caretakers of all kinds: nannies, babysitters, last minute back-up childcare, elderly care, pet sitters, special needs care, housekeeping, and even "care gigs" which might include help with errands like grocery shopping or other random help. Of course, this means job opportunities for those being hired as well. Users report that the candidates found through the website are generally higher-quality candidates than those found through agencies because there is a wider base. Anyone can join care.com for free! Families and caregivers can create profiles and post jobs. Background checks can be purchased through the website either by caregivers or by families who are interested in hiring a caregiver who has not purchased a background check. Caregivers can upgrade their profiles for $20 a month which enables them to actually contact families about jobs based on their profiles before the families even post a job, and the caregivers can then also post about their desired job and even be featured as a "featured area caregiver" in search results. There are also articles about hiring a caregiver/finding a care job, and hotlines to call for advice. Also, there is a branch of care.com called "workplace solutions" for companies which hire care.com to help them meet their employees care needs by offering custom-designed websites, seminars, and other help to easily connect caregivers with employees of that company. Care.com reports that "as a result of using the care.com employee benefit" there are shown to be advantages such as: "92% of employees can focus better at work with their family's care needs met", "More than 91% feel more positively regarding their employer", and "More than 60% have been able to improve their focus and work more hours". A few of the companies listed as us

I forgot to mention that you can find a tutor through care.com, or of course seek a tutoring job.

What an excellent resource for parents! I am not a parent, but the majority of my friends are. Finding quality childcare proves to be quite a challenge, and there is still concern. WIth the website offering back ground checks and referrals you would really get a sense of security that your child is in a safe place.

Maternal Employment and Nonmaternal Care During the Early Years 1. URL: org http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_124/ Economic Policy Institute - www.epi.org---- Working mothers in a double bind: Working moms, minorities have the most rigid schedules, and are paid less for the sacrifice By Elaine McCrate | May 1, 2002 By Elaine McCrate | May 1, 2002 2. Intended Audience: Low, working and middle class income workers, graduate and post-graduate students and working women of all ethnic classes. 3. Website overview: The economic policy institute is a think tank as it's name suggests and it conducts research and engages in the following areas: non-profit, non-partisan issues. It was officially established in 1986 and it's intent was to propose solutions that will defend and ameliorate the minimal pay and harsh working condition of the low and middle class worker. The EPI serves as the voice of the working class people. The sole purpose of Economic Policy institute is to bring forth awareness concerning economic policies and how these economic policies are benefiting the needs of low, working and middle-income workers. One of EPI beliefs is that every working person, regardless of wage status deserves equality in terms of fair pay and working conditions. Their method of impregnating the public perception with accurate and timely knowledge according to the EPI website is by "producing a plethora of research papers and policy analyses; sponsors conferences and seminars; briefs policy makers at all levels of government; provides technical support to national, state, and local constituency and advocacy organizations; testifies before national, state, and local legislatures; and provides information and background to the media." According to the website, the EPI values are: EPI Values * Helping Working People Economic policy should focus on improving conditions for working people. * Truth and Accuracy Matter EPI research should be honest and rigorous. *

The name of the website I reviewed is Momsrising.org, and the URL is http://www.momsrising.org/. This is a non-profit organization 501(c)(4), which means contributions are not tax deductible. I was unable to pinpoint authorship to one person. The 'about us' section simply states that this is a group of people (mostly mothers) who have come together to address issues related to motherhood and family. Specifically, the group examines issues such as maternity and paternity leave, open flexible work, toxics, health care, early care and education, fair wages and paid sick time. The organization's ideas stem from a book titled, The Motherhood Manifesto, authored by Joan Blades and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. It just so happens that Rowe-Finkbeiner is also the Executive Director of Momsrising.org. Most of the articles and other stories on their site do not give credit to any author. The only exception would be the Blog page, but even then, it is sometimes just a first name. This organization seems to me to be basically like a PAC, working to change public policies in order to make the workplace more family friendly. The targeted audience would be working mothers and fathers, but it seems there are many more women involved than men. The website addresses many issues that are important regarding work, family, and community. Many workers struggle with finding affordable childcare and this site has a page directly related to promoting early education and childcare for all. They also promote family-friendly policies such as flex-time, job sharing, and telecommuting. I think this website provides some useful information, but I also believe that most of it is biased and subjective. For example, one of the issues they address is healthcare for all. Included is a link to a question and answer session with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. She touts that the

And, here's the rest.... She touts that the new health care reform is designed to put you (us) in charge of our own health, giving us more options, etc. However, no one really knows what is going to happen when this takes effect. There are countless other arguments that support the ideas that people will have less access to care, important medical decisions will be made by some 'board', and the number of qualified doctors will quickly decline. Of course, Momsrising.org only presents the side of the story they want you to believe with regards to the health care reform law. Overall, I would consider the website credible because this group does exist. News articles from around the country support their existence. I noticed they had a "Donate" button that takes you to a page where you can make a monetary donation; however, they don't give a 'breakdown' of where this money goes. For example, what percentage goes to overhead, etc? The site appears to be fairly current, as it should be since it is addressing issues that are being faced today. The copyright date only gives the year 2011, but the "In The News" page contains several links to recent press releases. The site is well designed and consistent in layout. I was unable to find a 'help' screen or a site map.

Website Overview: Workingmother.com was established in 1979. When you're a working mother, you need all the help you can get in order to achieve any semblance of work- life balance. Working mothers is a great website to turn to when in need of tips and advice about situations you are facing. The website covers tips, ideas, and inspiration to help working moms balance household, family, and "me time". This website is all-encompassing and covers family life and work life. It also covers the "Three F's": fashion, finances, and food. Today, every working mother has her own bag of tricks, sanity techniques, or survival gear. They now have an indispensable new resource, The Working Mom Survival Guide. This survival guide entails anything from time-saving tips to family travel, as well as, food and nutrition. Intended Audience: The intended audience for workingmother.com is the average working mother in today's society. Today, 26 million mothers, more than 72% of all moms in the United States today, work full or part-time. These mothers need this website to help guide them along in balancing their work and family time. Working mothers can get on the website and learn tips on how to balance their family life and how to incorporate their career in a positive manner. This material is accessible to the general public on-line. Relationship to work, family, community class: When it comes to finding balance between work and family, everyone chooses a different path in life. Whether you chose to be a stay at home mom, work part-time, or work full-time, every mother has a different story. The website relates to work and family by showing how these working mothers can balance their work and family life together. It relates to community by giving all working mothers an opportunity to interact with each other on the website. The website let's working mothers share tips, advice, and ideas for balancing their everyday life. Workingmothers.com originates from the magazine W

The Working Mother website has different categories such as tools for mothers, top time categories for mothers, blogs from moms, and an online organizer for busy mothers. With the title of the website in consideration, the intended audience would be working mothers. In other cases, this website could be appealing to single working fathers, or any other kind of guardian. A majority of the topics are revolve and focused directly to busy mothers who work and take care of the home. However, I also believe that this site could be useful to any busy parent. On another note, some tools and offers are feminine, such as fashion ideas, and beauty tips. This site has a lot of advertisement about projects for mothers to use, and make their lives better. Whereas the blogs are from users and authors of the website, which do have credible stories and experiences. The Working Mother website includes many different articles, blogs, tips, ideas, and much more to offer. One could find this site very useful, when used in a correct way. After reviewing this website, and looking back at what I have learned from Work, Family, and Community, I understand why sites like this exist. Mothers are trying to fulfill two huge roles now, businesswoman, and super mom. People are noticing this, and the stress that comes with it, so they build off that and create things, such as this site, to help the busy moms. This website is entertainment, along with useful information for those busy mothers.

I thought that some of the suggestions and articles I found at this website were great. It seems like they have a lot of helpful organizational tools and advice to offer working moms. One criticism I have is about the image that it projects that working moms should have. One of the top articles that you see right now when you go to their website is about top holiday fashions. Every item in their list is ridiculously expensive, for example, a $345 pencil skirt that the editors recommend and "love". Also, there is a list of the "Most Powerful Moms of 2011", and of course, who is featured as the first photo? A celebrity, Tina Fey. I'm not calling the website evil, I just thought I would point out that some of these little details may actually create more pressure on working moms. Not only do they need to balance work and family, but apparently they have to be able to afford the best clothes and compare themselves to celebrities.

Center for Women and Work is a part of Rutgers School of Management and Labor relations and part of the Institute for Womens Leadership (IWL). Founded in 1993 by Proffessor Sue Cobble, the Center for Women and Work was created to study public policies, do research, and provide education to women. Particularly interesting about this website is its far reaching goals to help low-income working women and to extend it's efforts to help proffessional women such as lawyers and others in the corporate atmosphere deal with issues of obtaining and retaining employment. Also, helping proffessional women achieve and retain effectiveness in their roles as leaders, The Center for Women and Work is a company which should be commended for their efforts of addressing the needs of women. The center consist of two workforce development programs, one which aids the state, county and local governments of New jersey with implementing technology based programs, such as, online learning, for non-college grads. The second program is developing web applications that seek to teach literacy and work readiness skills. The center also offers a nationally-recognized program that provides research on gender equity and career development. Finally, the center does much research into the laws that working families need to balance their work and home lives. These laws could include paid time off, and flexible schedules. The intended audience for this website is very broad, although it seems to be geared towards the needs of working women. The website is assessible to the general public and can be intended for companies, and politicians with a desire to increase the effectiveness of women in the workplace. The website also ask the general public as well as businesses for support and list information needed to make donations to keep the company thriving. This website is definately credible as it stems from its connection with Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations in

Also, this website, is biased towards the positive interactions of women in the workforce. The website is specifically designed to assess the needs of women on a ground roots level by providing education and training. Also, by being involved in research and politics and trying to develop research that will influence legislation the benefits women in the workforce.

I thought the website was very informational and easy to navigate. I did a review on the national organization of women and had no idea it even existed. Seeing this site and all they do for women as well is truly amazing. The history part of Center for Women and Work really caught my attention. It said one of their main goals is to promote how and why women lead, and prepare women of all ages to lead effectively. Props to this website and a very good review!

Women Employed is a non-profit advocacy organization that is working to improve the conditions of working women, especially in the areas of economic and educational opportunities. Women Employed has fought against pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment, while supporting better work/family benefits for working women. The website discusses major workplace issues affecting women, provides likes to resources regarding workplace rights, and seeks to be a vehicle for networking between other women. Visitors can also donate to the group and become a member via the website, as well. The intended audience for this site is clearly working women who are struggling in the employment area, whether in terms of compensation or in the area of work/family benefits. Someone who wanted to improve their career options or outlook would benefit from this website. Additionally, those who simply want to know what their rights in the workplace are would also learn some beneficial information. Information on workplace rights and why "work isn't working" is ready available and easily accessible to the general public. The website highlights several facts, including the fact that there are 30 million low-wage workers (defined as workers earning less than $8.70/hr or $16,704 per year). Of those 30 million, 60% are women. According to this site, only a third of workers have paid sick time to take care of their children and over three-fourths of the lowest paid workers have NO paid sick time at all. I find this website pretty credible. They seem to be basing their facts upon government statistics, including those from the Labor Department. Though visitors are asked to donate to the group's efforts, no donation is required to access the information or resources. The website's initiatives are also very positive and very needed ones: promoting equal pay for equal work, promoting work/family balance, strengthening Affirmative Action policies (which include women), and en

This website is dedicated to helping children improve their lives by allowing them to grow up with committed and involved fathers. This is a great website because unfortunately it is the father that is not involved in the kids life if one of the parents is not. This site tries to educate fathers on the importance of their role in their child's life. They appear on tv or on the website. the site has a dads club and an email so that they can get all the information on being a better father. They will send out weekly hints and emails to the fathers to help them out. According to the site one out of three children live in fatherless houses. This is a big deal because female only houses have a poverty rate of almost 40 percent while married households are only at 8 percent. This shows how important it is to have a father in the household. It is just too hard trying to raise a child on your own. This website is for fathers of any age. It is there to help them understand the importance of them to their child's life. This is relevant because to have a proper family you have to have a father in the house. It is very hard as a mother to be the breadwinner and the caregiver as well at the same time basically. I feel like this website can help to show how important a father is to the household in general as well as the child. No father wants their child to grow up in a poverty filled life so they need to take responsibility and raise the children that they have.

Hi Zach, I really liked the website you picked. I also liked your review, but I have to disagree that, "it is the father that is not involved in the kids life if one of the parents is not," because I have 3 male friends who have sole custody of their children due to absentee mothers; one child has special needs. I can attest to the fact that it is just as hard being a single father, if not harder, than a single mother, because I think as a society we have a prejudice against men playing a traditionally female role, at least that is the picture that was painted in a lot of our lessons this year. Women probably have a lot more support than men do, either because men are not welcome (picture a single dad at an all mommy playgroup) or they are embarrassed to ask for help. I enjoyed that, though this site is tailored to fathers, there's a lot of information that is practical for any parent. The part that I found really touched me was the section for double duty dads; dad's that already have one family but pledge to mentor another family that doesn't have a father figure. There are no words for what a loving and self sacrificing role that is for that man to play. I would hope my husband would participate in a site like this if I wasn't around, at least for support alone; the articles and forums are great! He has me to research and obsess over our parenting currently. I love that there is a resource just for dads. Both your and Kenneth's statistics were shocking and eye opening. I had no idea.

This is a great site and great topic. I agree that there needs to be more emphasis placed on the role of fathers in the context of family. I like the idea that there are parenting resources geared for dads and a system of support. I think more fathers would get involved in their children's lives if they felt comfortable and had some support or encouragement to do so. At the same time, I think some of the facts cited by the website are slanted toward a particular point of view. Though I do think, for the most part, children benefit from growing up in two-parent homes, they are not always the ideal. For instance, the site says, "A study of 3,400 middle schoolers indicated that not living with both biological parents quadruples the risk of having an affective disorder." Maybe there is a correlation (not causation) between living with both biological parents and affective disorders. However, were adoptive children taken into consideration? Do that parents have to be biological? What if there is a step-parent in the home? Does that reduce the risk of developing particular disorders? It seems a little vague and slanted to me.

According to 9to5's about us section their "priority campaign is to win family-friendly policies for low-wage women. In the coming year, we'll focus on expanding family and medical leave benefits." While they appear to be making honest attempts towards this end they do not appear to be making actual progress. In their mission and history section they take credit for the Civil Rights Act of 1991. They don't explain how they are connected to this legislation, but I can't imagine that they were a key party in its implementation, as they don't offer any supporting facts. Their intended audience is low wage working women, who ironically don't necessarily or often work a nine to five schedule. At its core 9to5 seems to be a group of well-meaning women who want to support low wage earners when they need legal assistance. Besides their local, grassroots advocacy I believe their most effective resource is actually the legal assistance hotline they offer.

I agree this website sounds like they've taken quite a few liberties. Giving themselves credit for the Civil Rights Act of 1991 without any facts to back themselves up seems very bold. There is a good though behind the site, just not well executed.

It is hard to not support an organizaiton when 44 million American workers do not get paid sick days from their employers. In tough economic times, many workers simply cannot afford to stay out of work until they get well. Some employers will even fire workers for taking time off when they or their kids are sick, which is i believe flat wrong.