Girlboss and “tradwife” content dominate social media, but a lot of mothers with small children don’t fit either category. They prefer something in the middle: to work part-time, come in and out of the workforce, or take on roles with maximum flexibility. Research from the Institute for Family Studies found that 40% of married mothers with children under 5 prefer part-time work, with 39% preferring full-time work, and 20% preferring not to work.
Modern married mothers embrace the messy middle. Our policies and culture should too.
Yet national policies often are stuck in an age of traditional 9-to-5 jobs. The Biden administration, for example, sought to tighten restrictions on independent contracting, which many women prefer due to the flexibility it provides.
American society isn’t very accepting of a middle ground either. The modern feminist movement doesn’t recognize the validity of women’s diverse preferences.
The best way forward for women is to accept their preferences, including the preference for the messy middle ground, and support policies and culture that make more creative work options available.
Opportunity Feminism does that. Opportunity Feminism seeks to maximize freedom for women, so they have a path to build fulfilling and meaningful lives on their own terms.
Most American women don’t dream of a future of being single and childless. For most women, meaningful lives include having a family. According to an Institute for Family Studies/YouGov survey, among women under 35, only 14% don’t want to have children, and 71% either have children or say they want to have children.
Opportunity Feminism empowers women to achieve their professional and family goals. Central to this is fewer one-size-fits-all policies and less judgment about what women want. Children are a blessing. For many mothers, like myself, children not only bring joy, but also a change in perspective about priorities. The ultimate goal of policies described as benefitting women shouldn’t be to increase female full-time labor participation. The goal should be for women to have the opportunity to set up their professional lives according to their preferences. Federal and state governments shouldn’t define what women want by putting their weight behind one set of choices.
Opportunity Feminism is about reforming occupational licensing and debunking workplace narratives so that women can make the most of their skills. It is about recognizing that men and women are different, which influences their preferences and timelines. It is about identifying the true challenges facing women and designing smart policies to address those challenges.
Take occupational licensing. Unnecessary occupational licensing requirements should be repealed. In some cases, requirements protect public health and safety. But too often, occupational licensing requirements are primarily barriers to entry meant to limit competition to existing workers and businesses, or are just outdated. Occupational licensing is increasingly common. Today, covering nearly 30% of the U.S. workforce, up from 5% in the 1950s.
Here’s an example. The practice of law is regulated by the states. Most states offer a way for a lawyer licensed in one state to be admitted to practice in another state without taking another bar exam. Tennessee and Ohio were two of the handful of states with a full-time work requirement for lawyers in private or public practice to be admitted without examination. That meant that when a licensed part-time attorney moved to Tennessee or Ohio, that attorney had to sit for the state’s bar exam to be admitted to practice. The difference between a lawyer practicing full-time and part-time is the number of hours the lawyer works, not expertise or skill.
The full-time work requirement makes it more difficult for part-time lawyers to practice law. Women now earn half (or more) of law degrees each year. Of the 6.2% of lawyers at law firms working part-time, more than 70% are women.
The Network of Enlightened Women, of which I serve as president, led an effort that resulted in Tennessee and Ohio changing their rules. There are still three states with a full-time work requirement in this situation on the books.
A positive vision for women going forward should view policies through the lens of maximizing freedom. An important part of this is understanding the unintended consequences of policies from state and federal governments. Advocates for women should research and work to change federal and state policies that restrict women from adopting the work setup that they prefer.
We live in an age of technology that allows mothers more options for when, where, and how they work. Policies need to allow women to make the best decisions for themselves and their families.
Opportunity Feminists are doing just that — seeking policies that make it easier for women to create harmony between their personal and professional lives. After all, isn’t that what women want?
Karin Lips (@klips) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is the founder and president of the Network of Enlightened Women and a senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum.
