Earlier this week, Independent Women's Voice and the Republican National Committee partnered for an event with GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Facebook Live. IWV Digital Marketing Director Ericka Andersen spoke with McDaniel at RNC headquarters — and IWV Policy Director Hadley Heath Manning joining online — for a discussion with a group of working moms about work-life balance, policies to help working families and how conservative women can stand strong in the face of criticism.
McDaniel is the mom of two and both Andersen and Manning have one child with one on the way. The panelists included mom of five and blogger Cassy Chesser, RedState's Kira Davis, a mother of two and The Heritage Foundation's Michelle Cordero, also a mom of two.
IWV was delighted to be able to share some of our best policy recommendations for working families, including our sister organization, Independent Women's Forum's Working for Women report, which highlights key policy ideas on innovative paid leave solutions, flexible work schedules and more. The conversation came at a perfect time, as President Trump highlighted the paid leave debate in this week's State of the Union address. Our recent Policy Focus hones in on a specific way families can save for paid leave without costing the government extra money — and one that can work within the framework of small businesses as well.
The budget neutral approach to paid leave offers new parents the opportunity to collect early Social Security benefits after the arrival of their child in exchange for their agreeing to defer the collection of their Social Security retirement benefits. Learn more about our policy idea on this issue here.
Outside of the policy discussion, each panelist was able to offer tips and tricks about how to manage a busy #MomLife and remain true to her principles in the face of ongoing bias against conservative women. We hope this conversation was one route way to champion and empower women who are doing their best each day to make substantive contributions to their families and society