It started with an open letter circulating around Mother's Day.

• "Let's move beyond flowers and brunch and towards responsibility and action" to support working mothers, states the letter, published by YW Boston and Listen to Your Mothers.

Why it matters: Working mothers are more likely than their male counterparts to work part-time or leave the U.S. workforce due to child care or other family obligations.

• A survey from January by the women's inclusion nonprofit Catalyst found that the half of respondents who left voluntarily cited caregiving duties and inflexible work schedules as reasons.

Yes, but: Companies continue to shift toward four- or five-day weeks in the office, most recently TD Bank and Fidelity.

• That often adds another expense for working parents — in a state where day care costs over $27,000 a year — at a time when even dual-income households are strapped.

State of play: So far, 35 companies have signed onto the open letter, says Brianna Aloisio Savage, director of advocacy for YW Boston.

• The letter asks companies to commit to at least six policy priorities, ranging from flexible work schedules to generous paid leave benefits for caregivers.
• The organization plans to share resources with leaders whose companies sign on and discuss their progress.

Zoom in: Eastern Bank, one of the signatories, lets corporate managers set flexible work schedules based on business needs, even as much of the financial services industry has moved in the opposite direction.

What they're saying: "It's an advantage for us when we want to retain talent or attract talent," says Kathy Henry, the company's general counsel, who also leads the human resources team.

Flashback: Henry, an attorney in Boston, knows what it's like to juggle work and child care in order to keep a career.

• Two decades ago, Henry had just returned from maternity leave after having her twins when the firm she worked for gave her a BlackBerry.
• It was a sign of things to come — that the lines between work and home would become blurred — but she was thrilled.
• "I knew that it was going to make it so much easier for me to maintain my career while I was trying to figure out being a mother with two little kids," says Henry, a mother of three.

These days, working parents are taking full advantage of remote and hybrid schedules, including YW Boston leaders.

• Some mothers and caregivers who aren't allowed to work remotely have traded their office jobs for remote or hybrid roles, even if it slows down career advancement.

The bottom line: It doesn't have to be that way, Savage of YW Boston says.

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A century after Ireland's first census as a free state, Boston College provost David Quigley got his hands on copies of census forms his relatives filled out.

• They were among the 2.9 million people who participated in 1926 and whose records were recently made public.

Why it matters: Massachusetts is home to more than 1.3 million people of Irish descent, per U.S. Census Bureau data.

• While thousands have arrived in recent years, the vast majority in the state are Irish descendants like Quigley, who could use the Irish census to learn more about their ancestors who participated in 1926.

Catch up quick: The National Archives of Ireland published data from the 1926 census online last month.

• About 1,200 people who appeared on the Irish Free State's first census are still alive, said Orlaith McBride, Ireland's National Archives director. (None live in Massachusetts.)

State of play: The Irish National Archives on Wednesday opened an exhibition on the census at Boston College.

• The free exhibition, located in Burns Library, runs through Sept. 9.

Zoom in: Quigley's grandparents grew up only 7 miles apart in Ireland, but they met decades later in the South Bronx.

• Ireland's National Archives surprised Quigley with copies of his grandparents' census records.

What they're saying: "You don't find me speechless on this campus too often," Quigley said Tuesday night when presented with the records.

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⚖️ The Supreme Court extended access to mifepristone yesterday while the judges review a legal challenge over abortion pill access by mail and at pharmacies. (Axios)

🏈 The Patriots will start the NFL season with a Super Bowl rematch against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 9 (yes, that's a Wednesday). (MassLive)

The Healey administration hasn't fulfilled federal agents' requests to get undercover license plates and registrations to conduct civil immigration arrests. (GBH News)

Tyler Brown, the accused gunman in the shooting rampage on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, pleaded not guilty to eight charges yesterday from his hospital bed. (CBS Boston)

An Andover woman died and three people were injured Wednesday night after a boat crashed into an airport pier along Boston Harbor. (NBC Boston)

🏗️ ICYMI: The Public Health Council approved construction of a proton therapy center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the fourth center of its kind in the state. (Globe)

Phone-free bars and restaurants are emerging across the U.S. as people seek to disconnect from screens and devices.

The big picture: This trend comes amid a societal shift, with some U.S. states prohibiting phone use at school and more live events restricting phones.

State of play: At least 11 states now have individual restaurants or bars with some form of phone restriction or a digital-detox incentive.

• Cambridge is home to Zuzu's Petals Wine Bar, which promotes "screen-free drinking."
• Washington, D.C., has five phone-free venues.
• Others can be found in Arizona, California, Illinois, Tennessee, North Carolina, New York and Texas.

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