Jessica Shortall: The US needs paid family leave -- for the sake of its future
Jessica Shortall: Sådan svigter USA nybagte forældre - og deres spædbørn
Jessica Shortall is a working mom of two and author of Work. Pump. Repeat: The New Mom's Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
this is what you'll be told.
får du dette svar.
what you'll actually produce
with a baby on your lap.
med et barn på skødet
We'll look at a lot of them.
på disse fotos.
of every American workplace.
amerikanske arbejdspladser.
into any Google image search engine,
i en billedsøgning på Google,
blog posts and news pieces,
og nyhedsartikler,
and the lie that they tell us
og den løgn de fortæller os
to new working motherhood in America,
mødre i Amerika,
millions of women back to work
millioner af kvinder på arbejde
and kind of horrifically soon
why it's an economic problem.
hvorfor det er et økonomisk problem.
with the unreality of these images,
af det uvirkelige signal billederne sender
in a parody series of stock photos
medvirke i en parodi
of going back to work
det er at vende tilbage til jobbet
is attached to your body.
sidder på din krop.
like leaking breast milk
forfremmelse" som lækkende mælk
under en præsentation.
no baby in this photo,
baby er på dette billede
its contents are aerosolized
er indholdet aerosoliseret
mange mødre i job,
that they can find to make food
de i løbet af dagen, kan give
a whole dozen of them, into the world.
af dem ud til verden.
was opening a door,
at jeg samtidig åbnede en dør,
from all walks of life
alle samfundslag
for them to go back to work
at komme tilbage på job
10 of their stories with you today.
historier med jer idag.
some of them are very raw,
nogle er meget rå
looks anything like this.
noget nær ud som dette.
service member at a federal prison.
føderalt fængsel.
allowed eight weeks for my C-section.
maksimale tilladte 8 uger ved kejsersnit.
that I had been out on 'vacation,'
at jeg havde været væk på "ferie",
while I was pumping breast milk
mens jeg pumper brystmælk ud
with inmates in the hallway."
i gangen bag sig."
total strangers, send to me now,
fremmede kvinder, nu sender mig
to work after seven unpaid weeks.
til jobbet efter 7 syv uger uden løn.
during labor, and major tearing,
og sprækkede slemt,
to use my available vacation days
måtte bruge min ferie
situations like these in the eye
disse situationer
then we have to do something about it.
gøre noget ved det.
and believe, this image.
dette billede.
what's going on in this picture,
der foregår på billedet,
and slightly creepy.
og en smule uhyggeligt.
and all of their babies, are fine.
og deres børn, har det helt fint.
har kvinderne taget et valg
problem.
down into two parts.
op i to dele.
that women have chosen to work.
at kvinder har valgt at arbejde.
47 percent of the workforce,
47% af arbejdsstyrken,
husholdninger
or primary breadwinner.
eller primære forsørger.
of the engine of this economy,
del - af økonomiens motor,
for the engines of our families.
for motoren i familien.
our paid work is not optional.
er kvinders job ikke valgfri.
are choosing to have babies,
kvinder vælger at få børn,
the consequences of those choices.
konsekvenserne for disse valg.
can sound correct.
synes lyder rigtigt.
when that happened.
da det skete.
ignores a fundamental truth,
en fundamental sandhed,
on a national scale is not optional.
nationalt plan ikke er valgfri.
working women, are having today,
kvinder, får idag,
protect our shores,
beskytte vores kyster,
on a national scale is not optional.
er ikke valgfri.
We need working women to have babies.
og børn fra disse kvinder.
doing those things at the same time
både at arbejde og få børn
women in America do you think
amerikanske kvinder i job, tror du
will not get one minute of paid leave
får ikke et eneste minuts betalt barsel
It's called FMLA. It does not work.
Det kaldes FMLA. Det virker ikke.
all kinds of exceptions,
alle mulige undtagelser,
ikke berettiget til det.
I had to take off work.
ville jeg tage fri fra arbejde.
to qualify for FMLA,
længe nok til at få FMLA,
barsel uden løn.
to meet my newborn son,
min nyfødte søn,
hide another reality, another layer.
skjuler en anden virkelighed.
to just that unpaid leave,
løn tilgængeligt,
to take much of it at all.
for short-term disability
ikke ret til kortvarig sygemelding
was considered a preexisting condition.
som en allerede eksisterende tilstand.
and half of our savings
og halvdelen af opsparingen
but emotionally it was worse.
psykisk var det værre.
being away from my son."
med at være væk fra min søn."
to go back to work so early,
om at starte i job så tidligt,
driven by family finances,
baseret på familiens økonomi
into the world is messy.
i verden er rodet.
at work five weeks postpartum.
efter fødslen af mit første barn.
major surgery after giving birth,
en større operation,
working mothers in America
på arbejdsmarkedet i USA
within two weeks of giving birth.
inden to uger efter fødslen.
average of 75 hours a week while pregnant.
i snit 75 timer/ugen under graviditeten
before my baby was a month old,
barn var en måned gammel,
to afford 10 days off with her baby."
tage 10 dage fri med sit barn."
with economic and physical implications.
økonomisk og fysisk kompleksitet.
an enormous psychological event.
en enorm psykologisk begivenhed.
eight weeks after my son was born.
otte uger efter min søn var født
to returning to work were unbearable."
over at skulle tilbage i job."
after having a baby,
efter hun har født,
from postpartum mood disorders
lidelser
consequences of those disorders,
konsekvenser heraf
most common cause of death
almindelige dødsårsag,
but I find it hard to get through.
jeg synes det er hårdt at læse.
that I lost an essential,
over at jeg har mistet en væsentlig,
time with my son.
tid med min søn.
left me feeling absolutely broken.
efterlod mig fuldstændig ødelagt.
is the screaming: colic, they said.
skrigene: Kolik, sagde de.
how much longer I could do it.
-Hvor længe kan du blive ved?
while I rocked and shushed
mens jeg vuggede og tyssede
so I wouldn't get in trouble.
skrige, så jeg ikke fik problemer.
every damn day
while I washed out the pump equipment.
mens jeg vaskede brystpumpen.
and all the way home again.
på vej til og fra arbejde.
I didn't get done during the day,
ikke nåede i løbet af dagen
wrong with me that I can't swing this."
siden jeg ikke magter det."
about the millions of babies
de millioner af børn
and tax-paying and military-serving age.
betaler skat og kan indgå i militæret.
is that babies whose mothers
and their well checks in their first year,
og helbredstjek det første år.
from deadly and disabling diseases.
mod dødelige og invaliderende sygdomme.
behind images like this.
billeder som dette.
who work and for their babies.
arbejdende mødre og deres børn.
you should be grateful for it,
bør I være taknemmelig for,
runs through a lot of the stories I hear.
er gennemgående i mange historier.
after my C-section
8 uger efter kejsersnittet
had failure to thrive.
svært ved at trives.
was very understanding.
var min chef meget forstående.
hente mit barn,
så jeg kunne være hos hende."
of countries in the world
i verden
paid leave to new mothers.
in total population.
samlet en befolkning på 8 millioner.
Suriname and the tiny island nations
Surinam og de små ø nationer
Nauru, Niue, Palau and Tonga.
Nauru, Niue, Palau og Tonga.
the United States of America,
of national paid leave work
betalt barsel til at fungere
of the future of those countries,
skaber fremtiden,
"We couldn't possibly do that."
"Vi kan umuligt få det til at fungere."
will solve this problem,
vil ordne dette problem,
offer even more paid leave to the women
tilbyder endnu mere barsel til de kvinder
and highest-paid among us.
og bedst betalte iblandt os.
are not going to participate in that.
får ikke fornøjelse af dette.
economic, financial, physical
økonomisk, finansiel, fysisk
ved denne fremgangsmåde.
decided, not an accident,
besluttet, det var ikke en fejl,
on to working mothers and their babies.
direkte til mødre og deres børn.
for low-income women,
med lav indkomst,
for women of color.
so-called choices to have babies
såkaldte valg, om at få børn
not to have babies.
om ikke at få børn.
It shouldn't be traumatic.
Det burde ikke være traumatisk.
our family now,
to care for myself and a new baby.
har til at vare tage os selv og barnet.
the same way as with our first,
som vi var med det første barn,
to keep the population stable
skal USA bruge
working women from doing that.
arbejdende kvinder fra at gøre netop det.
to innovation, to GDP,
innovationen, BNP'en,
of this country were to decide
to do this thing more than once?
one idea worth spreading,
som er værd at dele,
for the most powerful country on Earth
burde forlængst
of the future of this country
dette lands fremtid
who represent that future.
som repræsenterer fremtiden.
for small businesses,
for mindre virksomheder,
to be shared between partners.
at dele mellem partnere.
mange niveauer.
should have to go back to work
burde vende tilbage til jobbet
to drain their savings account
deres opsparring
of rest and recovery and bonding.
i et par dage mere.
from the incubator to day care
fra inkubator til vuggestue
all of their meager time
alt deres sparsomme tid
should be told that the collision
burde få fortalt at kollisionen
and their needed parenthood,
deres nødvendige forældreskab,
to a new family, it is consuming,
ny familie, er det tidskrævende
is more financially vulnerable
er økonomisk mere sårbare
to speak up on her own behalf.
at tale på egne vegne.
as a mother's issue,
som en mors eller
that these images tell us.
som de billeder fortæller os.
why we're told that this can't work
at det ikke vil fungere
everywhere all over the world.
alle andre steder i verdenen.
that this American reality
at denne amerikanske virkelighed
what a working mother looks like.
viser hvordan en mor i job ser ud.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jessica Shortall - Strategy consultant, social entrepreneur and authorJessica Shortall is a working mom of two and author of Work. Pump. Repeat: The New Mom's Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work.
Why you should listen
What do breastfeeding and paid leave for working mothers, sustainable eye care, hunger, green investing, giving shoes and the business case for LGBT equality have in common?
For Jessica Shortall, they have all been opportunities to change the world: challenges that need sustainable solutions and require a deep understanding of market forces, audiences, and cultures. They all require an intense dive into data, and they all benefit from powerful storytelling.
Shortall has provided strategy consulting to dozens of businesses, social enterprises, non-profit organizations and campaigns in the US, UK and beyond. Her first book, Work. Pump. Repeat: The New Mom's Guide to Surviving Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work, was inspired by her own experiences of circumnavigating the globe with a breast pump. She interviewed hundreds of working mothers and dozens of HR professionals to create a practical, relatable, judgment-free guide for women who want to try to continue breastfeeding after they've returned to work.
Shortall started her adult life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan, and she haven't stopped searching for ways to change the world since, across non-profit and for-profit worlds. In the early 2000s, she co-founded and franchised a non-profit organization that is now active in more than 40 communities. In 2006, she received an MBA with honors from the University of Oxford, as a Skoll Scholar in Social Entrepreneurship. She went on to spend three years providing consulting services to social entrepreneurs. From 2009 to 2014, she was the first Director of Giving at TOMS Shoes, hired to build out the now-iconic One for One giving mission and strategy.
She currently lives in Dallas, TX with her husband Clay and her two children.
Jessica Shortall | Speaker | TED.com