Proposed Marshall Plan for Moms: We Can’t Put a Price Tag on the Vocation of Motherhood
Written by Kimberly Fletcher
There is a growing constituency of women who want the president (really, the taxpayers) to pay mothers $2,400 a month for all their “unseen, unpaid labor,” according to Reshma Saujani in her December op-ed for The Hill. Her proposal, “A Marshall Plan for Moms,” likens itself to America’s 1948 Marshall Plan, which gave European countries financial help after WWII. This past week, Saujani spearheaded a full-page ad in The New York Times, signed by a coterie of Hollywood and liberal luminaries, outlining the plan’s requests (demands) made on behalf of mothers everywhere.
The proposal seeks to address valid concerns such as the financial setbacks brought on by the pandemic and the passage of paid family leave, but then goes off the rails by linking itself to the sacred vocation of motherhood. The ad decries all the hard work and sacrifices of motherhood that go “unpaid.” “Moms are the bedrock of society. And we’re tired of working for free. We need a Marshall Plan for Moms. NOW.” … “It’s a national crisis.” …“It’s time to put a dollar figure on our labor.” “Motherhood isn’t a favor, and it’s not a luxury. It’s a job.”
This may appeal to those seeking to offload their parenting responsibilities, but it is an affront to the institution of motherhood and its true value (perceived and actual). By demanding to be taken care of in this way, mothers unknowingly invite government into their homes. It’s very simple: If the government pays you for being a mom, it won’t be long before it can then dictate how you mother your children.
It’s ironic the same women who decry, “My body, my choice,” and demand government stay out of their lives, now turn around and invite the government into their homes and beg for a price tag to diminish their worth, power and influence. I, like most moms, want less government oversight in my life—not more. With all the poppycock government is pushing—pornographic sex in our children’s schools, eliminating gender, and killing full term babies, (just to name a few of their radically dangerous ideas) why would any mother want that fanatical crowd overseeing the teaching and nurturing of their children? I certainly don’t want some government agent telling me how to raise my children or mandate I teach my child things that go against our faith, family values or my personal beliefs. The government’s recent removal of gender-specific labels such as “mother” and “father” from the text of the “Rules of the House of Representatives,” is only the beginning. The government knows that, in order to gain control, it must purge mothers and fathers from the home and take over the role of raising our children.
History has proven, and every evil dictator has shown, the most effective way to take over a country is to steal the hearts and minds of the children. Because mothers won’t stand for this, we are in the way. So, of course those who are trying to destroy everything America stands for need to do everything they can to remove the most formidable obstacle in their path—a mother’s love!
Home is the center of society, and at the center of the Home is a mother. That mother is more powerful than any president. “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” isn’t just a cute saying; it’s an immortalized fact. Mothers are literally shaping the future. Women are at the very heart of society, laying the foundation for the future. We have been at the rise and fall of thousands of years of civilizations. The Bible tells us of the far-reaching influence of women: Esther saved an entire nation, while Jezebel brought one down.
The only question we have to decide is what kind of future do we want—the one radical feminists promote, with their culture of death, assault on freedom, and attack on everything good, true, and beautiful? Or the one where liberty prevails, God is respected, and families are free and prosperous? If freedom is what we want, we must stop aligning ourselves with radical feminists, because their big government agenda is the antithesis of freedom. Government is trying to gain control over our children in order to mold and shape them to do their bidding. That is not a formula for preserving freedom or the values that made America the freest, most prosperous nation on earth.
Yes, assist those struggling financially, but don’t belittle motherhood and marginalize a mother’s love as “unpaid work.” I don’t need a paycheck to prove my worth. I see the value of my work in the lives of my children.
We spend so much time looking to the federal government to solve our problems that we have completely overlooked where our real power lies—with us. As mothers, we are determining the future right now in our homes today, by remaining free to raise our children the way God ordained. Diminishing our value as mothers to the level of “unpaid work,” proves just how little those promoting this agenda understand why mothers make the sacrifices they make. We can’t put a price tag on the vocation of motherhood; its rewards are timeless and its benefits are priceless.
Kimberly Fletcher is the president and founder of Moms for America, author of “WOMEN: America’s Last Best Hope,” and a radio host. Moms for America is a national, non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation rooted in the principles of liberty and virtue upon which our nation was founded, and focused on promoting these principles, values, and virtues in the home and family through the women and mothers of America. Kimberly is the wife of a retired Air Force Officer and mother of 8 children, who has made it her personal mission to educate and inspire the women of America to realize their immeasurable worth and powerful influence on society simply by being who they are.