We the People

Gender: City of Mamas

An inside look at the city of Portland, Oregon, where mothers are fighting to balance work and family.

This film was originally broadcast on Al Jazeera English in the run-up to the US elections in 2008.

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have been fighting hard for women’s votes in the 2008 US presidential election. McCain even selected Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his vice presidential running mate, and Obama has made a point of addressing issues that are crucial to women voters.

Today many working mothers struggle with finding balance between work and home. The US is the only industrialised country that does not guarantee any financial support during family leave.

Currently, working mothers can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to care for a newborn – compare that to countries such as Norway and Sweden which provide a year or more of paid time off. Across the US some states are trying to change that.

We the People went to the city of Portland, Oregon, where mothers are struggling to balance work and family.