She's the man!

We've all heard the expression "it's a man's world."  It seems like that's been part  of our societal mantra ever since I can remember.  But things are changing and startling so.  Because of this, workplaces had better change too in terms of being more baby-friendly or they will go, well, out of business.

An interesting article in this month's issue of The Atlantic magazine titled "The End of Men" has some breathtaking statistics.  According to the article (which I highly recommend you read), "Earlier this year for the first time in our country's history, the balance of the workforce tipped toward women, who now hold a majority of the nation's jobs." The trend will only continue. According to the article:

• More women are going to colleges and professional schools than men.  "For every two men who will receive a B.A. this year, three women will do the same."
• Men dominate just two of the 15 job categories projected to show the most growth over the next two years.  Those two categories are janitor and engineer.  "Women have everything else---nursing, home health assistance, child care, food preparation."  Teaching is also part of that list.
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women now hold 51.4 percent managerial and professional jobs---up from 26.1 percent in 1980.
• About a third of America's physicians are now women.
• 45 percent of associates in law firms.  Both these last two percentages are rising fast according to the article.

At first glance, it's easy to understand why women are taking over!  The jobs that are projected to grow are typically those that are more nurturing in nature---ones that women have been doing for hundreds of years, without pay!

And it's not just here in the U.S.

• "Women in poor parts of India are learning English faster than men to meet the demands of new global call centers.
• In China, "women own more than 40 percent of private businesses."

Back in the U.S. it is true that most CEOs are still men, but given the career and cultural forces driving the economy and our society, that will surely change.  The workforce is not only becoming more amenable to women, it's slowly being driven by women. 

This is all relevant for obvious reasons.  The rate of women who breastfeed is not as high as the Centers for Disease Control wants.  That's attributable to many things but one is that in this day and age, and in this economy especially, more women are returning to work sooner than they might wish.  Traditionally, our workplaces have not been baby friendly.  But with women making up the majority of the workforce now, things had better change or businesses will be in trouble.  Specifically:

• We need a federally mandated PAID maternity leave.
• We need to extend the length of maternity leaves to longer than 3 months.
• Workplaces need to provide women with a clean, private place to pump.
• There need to be enforceable consequences if they don't.
• Perhaps we could provide tax incentives for those workplaces that are baby-friendly.
• More workplaces should provide flex-time.

There are lots of things we can do as a society to increase breastfeeding rates.  But it's never been more important than it is now given these statistics.

The good news is, that as it becomes more of a woman's world, perhaps we'll have a better chance at making change happen.