The world is not set up for a full-time employee and full-time parent, which is unfortunate. Here is my two-sense on feminist economics.
Women are seen to “fall behind” when they put a priority on their children instead of their work. The notion is that when women take maternity leave, their job skills become rusted, and therefore the company justifies the reasons for paying them less. This is despite equal pay laws; women still get paid significantly less than men. The other thing is that women are forced to be the ones to leave their jobs to provide childcare. The first component is because childcare takes a good portion of a person’s income, so many low to middle-class families are unable to even afford childcare.
The next component is women have a sensitive component to them their “motherly instincts” so they feel they should be the one providing the childcare. The next component is that it just makes the most sense for the mother to be the one taking off of work because women are already getting paid less, and they have to take off to deal with post-partum. Once a mother takes off for post-partum, it just makes the most sense for them to continue to take off and provide the childcare.
A component that I noticed in Lebanese Armenian cultural values (I am sure with others as well) is intergenerational childcare after the mother took the maximum amount of maternity leave. My grandparents watched me after my mom used her maternity leave from the bank. This ties into the article’s point where childcare does not end once the child can walk.
To further educate yourself on feminist economic matters you can read books. Comment below what your opinion is on this feminist economic concerns.