Mothers and the Economy

With their work and personal investment in their families and their children, all mothers, whether they are in paid employment or not, make a vital contribution to the economy of their country.

MMM advocates to give value to this unpaid family care work, working primarily for a better balance of family life and professional life.  “Care” work must be given much more credit and should not be an obstacle to gender equality and the economic independence of mothers.

Unpaid family care work: vital but invisible and unrecognized

Its financial value is estimated between 10 and 40% of GDP and 2/3 of this work is assumed by women, specifically mothers. It is the first obstacle to their economic empowerment.

MMM in action

Awareness raising and advocacy on the issue of unpaid family care work: recognise, reduce & redistribute

MMM welcomes first ever Human Rights Council resolution on Care

11.10.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - Entitled ‘Centrality of care and support from a human rights perspective’, this landmark resolution was presented by the governments of Argentina, Iceland, Mexico

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Universal Social Protection a must for parents, children and the future

22.09.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - MMM supports the OHCHR's views and recommendations on the Rights of the child and inclusive social protection presented to the Council. Our oral statement

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Discrimination in the economic sphere: the “motherhood penalty”

Beyond the first structural obstacle of unpaid family work, women around the world suffer from barriers, sometimes legal, often purely discriminatory - especially when they are mothers

Reconciliation between family and professional life

MMM defends women’s (and men’s!) free choice to be able to devote time to their family responsibilities - without being heavily penalised.

Reconciliation of Family Life and Work

Advocacy for policies of reconciliation between family life and professional life for all - a key area of work at the European level, mais an issue for every mother around the world.

MMM supports the idea of a job guarantee scheme to redress the inequities of care work

30.06.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - According to the UN special Rapporteur on poverty, a job guarantee could help solve the paradox of having an insufficient number of jobs on

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MMM calls for recognition and support of mothers as part of Social Justice

09.06.23

UN Geneva - At the recent plenary meeting of the International Labour Conference, we reasserted the imperative, as part of social justice, of supporting caregivers, in particular mothers, in the

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Latest news on Mothers and the Economy

Our members highlight why and how young mothers must be counted

24.10.23

A look back at our LP4Y event in New York

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Join us in New York to find out why young mothers must be counted

12.10.23

As part of the LP4Y Youth Inclusion International Forum, which will take place on 18-19 October 2023 in New York/Brooklyn, Make Mothers Matter is organizing a session entitled Make Young Mothers Count, whose ma

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MMM welcomes first ever Human Rights Council resolution on Care

11.10.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - Entitled ‘Centrality of care and support from a human rights perspective’, this landmark resolution was presented by the governments of Argentina, Iceland, Mexico and Spain

Read more

Universal Social Protection a must for parents, children and the future

22.09.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - MMM supports the OHCHR's views and recommendations on the Rights of the child and inclusive social protection presented to the Council. Our oral statement stresses in particula

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Care central to the realisation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

21.09.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - As OHCHR seeks to reinforce its work on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, MMM highlights the centrality of Care to the realisation of these rights, in particular the unpaid

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Care experts agree: redistribution key to achieving Gender Equality

17.09.23

Redistributing care work was a central topic at a wide-ranging discussion recently hosted by Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Network and the Women 20 (W20) organization.

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