Valuing the role of homemaker

Women, forget homemaking; you could be displaced and out of luck.

That doesn't seem to be the best thing to tell women in a state that places high value on families and stay-at-home moms.

However, that seems to be the unintended message Utah legislators sent some women who, through no fault of their own, find themselves without a source of income. Last month, a legislative interim committee voted against reauthorization of Utah's Displaced Homemaker program passed in 1986.

It was created along with federal programs to help women who had stayed at home to care for their children and husbands and later lost their husbands because of death, divorce or other reasons and no longer had a source of income.

Many of the displaced homemakers who dedicated themselves to caring for their families found themselves without employment experience and ineligible for unemployment insurance. In short, they were out of luck.

Legislative committee members, to their credit, voted against reauthorization of the program because the Department of Workforce Services, the agency responsible for administering the program, was unable to show results — how many displaced homemakers they helped find living-wage jobs. They were only able to describe what services they provided, i.e., counseling, links to other programs, ideas on networking, educational support, food stamps, job interviewing and, most presumptuous, resume writing.

Can you imagine asking a 40-year-old divorced woman who has spent the past 15 years raising children and supporting her husband in his work, or helping him with his education, to write a resume? What might she put down — changed diapers, did laundry, prepared school lunches, drove kids to school, ran errands, grocery shopped, organized and cleaned house and fixed dinner? All volunteer work and no pay.

She may never have found time to develop her work skills or have a work experience, though she juggled housekeeping, homework with kids, multitasking and the ability to work without supervision. When the DWS worker asks her about her qualifications, she might answer, "None."

What must it be like for a woman, whose life revolved around keeping her family together to all of sudden find herself desolate, penniless and having to ask for help?