Missing from Congress: Moms with young kids
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Moms of young children make up slightly more of the current U.S. Congress than the last group, a new report finds, yet still account for fewer than 1 in 10 federal lawmakers.
Why it matters: The numbers leave moms underrepresented in Congress and reflect the institution's lack of support for parent members, says Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder and CEO of the Vote Mama Foundation.
- The research and analysis nonprofit produced the report. (A separate Vote Mama PAC funds and supports Democratic moms running for office.)
Driving the news: Moms with minor children account for 7.2% of the 119th Congress sworn in as of April, per the report. That's up slightly from 6.7%.
- Dads with young kids make up nearly 23% of members of Congress as of April.
Zoom in: There are four moms and 22 dads of young children in the Senate, and 35 moms and 102 dads in the House of Representatives.
- The report findings show that among all members of Congress, "dads of minors are overrepresented compared to the population, while moms of minors are underrepresented at about half the rate of the population."
Zoom out: Women are underrepresented in Congress generally, making up about a quarter of lawmakers despite accounting for just over half of the country's population.
- Meanwhile, the median age is about 58 in the House and 65 in the Senate — meaning many lawmakers are outside the typical age range for parents of minor children.
Caveat: Vote Mama's figures don't include Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat and mother of three who won a late September special election to represent Arizona's 7th Congressional District.
Friction point: Several barriers prevent more moms of young children from running for and holding office, Grechen Shirley tells Axios, including voters' expectations of mothers, the cost and logistical burden of child care, time away on the campaign trail and in Washington, institutional resistance to proxy voting, and more.
What's next: Making it easier for moms of young children to serve could drive policy change, says Grechen Shirley — who ran to represent New York's 2nd congressional district in 2018 with two kids, then 3 and 1, but lost to incumbent Republican Peter King.
- "There are all of these amazing organizations trying to lobby Congress to pass family-friendly policies. But the reality is, you don't have to lobby a mom," she says.
- "Once a mom gets into Congress ... they're the ones who introduce legislation on child care and paid family leave, on education, on reproductive rights, on maternal mortality. They're the ones who are fighting the most, because it's what they have experienced."
Go deeper: Who's missing at the legislation table: moms
