The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 60% of mothers of preschool children are in the paid workforce, and for mothers of school-age children, that figure nears 80%. If paychecks were all it took to liberate women, we would be well on our way. Instead, we're exhausted, and while this problem is hardly unique to the United States, the American system of long hours on the job and scant provision for public welfare makes the challenges of motherwork all the more acute. It's not hard to figure out what brought us to this pass: wage stagnation, increasingly lengthy workweeks, proliferating numbers of single-parent households and two-income couples, gaping holes in the social safety net, erosion of labor unions, mounting violence against our children by both civilians and the state, and diminished public spending on youth recreation, daycare, afterschool programs and other services crucial to working families. The question is: what can we do to turn things around? This conference will explore answers to that question.

Sponsored by the Women's History Graduate Program at Sarah Lawrence College Co-Sponsored with the Diversity and Activism Programming Subcommittee of Student Life (DAPS) and Sister to Sister International Inc.