Meeting Public Comments

Tom Chapman [Iowa Catholic Conference]

The Iowa Catholic Conference is the public policy agency of the Catholic bishops of Iowa and we are registered in support of SSB 1029.Many employers have developed good policies that support women employees in their roles as mothers. We appreciate that because its tough to negotiate these accommodations on your own.But to some extent, our public policies and employment practices still reflect a time when fathers were the sole providers in stable families. However, now, according to the U. S. Department of Labor, twothirds of mothers of children under the age of 6 have jobs. We believe pregnant women should receive special consideration to meet their needs. Sometimes women hurry back to work after giving birth, partly because their families depend so heavily on their earnings and partly because, even if they can afford to take a few months off without pay, they dont want to lose their momentum at work. From the perspective of the Catholic Church, we have a conviction that the good of the family is an indispensable and essential value of our community. Public authorities should ensure that families have the economic, social, and educational assistance they need in order to meet their responsibilities.