The Shriver Report

By Marianne Cooper

The Shriver Report challenged a leading center for women’s studies, Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, to look 20 years into the future and present us with a real-life rendering of the potential results of the recommendations proposed in this report.

Could our society be so thoroughly reimagined?

Fundamental change is possible. Women have shown that they can dramatically transform our society in a very short period of time.

There is no question that we can harness our power together to achieve what Anne-Marie Slaughter describes as “a new America”—where we truly value breadwinning and caregiving equally and we provide help and support where families, and especially single parents, need it.

The following is one positive vision of a nation reimagined.

June 17, 2034
Graduation ceremony

Antonia Jarvis has been looking forward to this day for a long time. At 26 years old, she is older than most of the other students in the packed auditorium, but that doesn’t bother her. She knew with everything on her plate—her part-time job, her now 6-year-old son, and her coursework—that it would take her a bit longer to finish college. But her day is finally here. Not only is she receiving her degree today, but she is also embarking on a promising career in software security.

There was a time in Antonia’s life when this day seemed out of reach. At the age of 20, she gave birth to her son, Jimmy. She never thought she would become a single mother. But when her relationship with her boyfriend fell apart a few months after she learned she was pregnant, Antonia was left to face early parenthood alone. Antonia worried about her ability to be the sole provider for her child. Her own mother, Dolores, had given birth to Antonia when she was just 19 years old. After watching Dolores struggle with the difficulties of being a single parent, Antonia was fearful about what she was up against.

Today, on her graduation day, Antonia is reflecting back on the past several years, and how her life has turned out so differently than that of her mother. She is grateful for the choices she has been able to make, and that it has been possible for her to finish school and keep working, unlike her mom. Back in 2008, Dolores was fired from her job for missing too much work when Antonia was born. Subsequently, Dolores struggled to find jobs with enough flexibility to care for her daughter and adequate pay to afford good day care. As a result, Dolores moved from one low-paying job to the next, having to leave or getting fired when the need to care for Antonia came into conflict with her ability to work. With her time and energy devoted to raising her child amid such great economic insecurity, pursuing her own educational goals became impossible.

Fortunately, Antonia was spared from facing the same set of insurmountable hurdles her mother faced. And today she has many people to thank for this—people looking on from the audience, smiling proudly at her. There is Kelly, her community college advisor; Kevin, her boss; Professor Clark, her mentor; and, of course, Antonia’s mom, Dolores, holding Jimmy on her lap.

Kelly, Antonia’s advisor at Glenwood Community College, was instrumental in keeping Antonia on track to achieve her dreams. Despite Antonia’s concern that having a child would prevent her from continuing on with her studies, Kelly assured her that she would be able to complete her education. Kelly provided Antonia with information about all of the benefits, programs, and services she was eligible for, including 12 weeks of paid family leave; paid sick days; affordable, 24-hour child care; and subsidized, high-quality preschool. Kelly helped Antonia begin to see that she could continue with her education while making sure Jimmy had quality care and proper early education as well. Armed with all of this information, Antonia’s worries subsided. Her stress level declined, she began to sleep easier, and, importantly, she began to see a path forward—she started to see how she could hold onto her dream of attending college and be a single parent.

With Kelly’s help, Antonia found Capital Day Care—an affordable and flexible facility within walking distance from campus. Antonia was impressed the first time she visited the center. Her tour revealed competent and enthusiastic teachers, stimulating and fun games for the children, and an accommodating schedule that proved Capital Day Care understood the difficult balancing act of being a working—and studying—mom. And, most importantly, Jimmy soon loved it there and began to thrive under the center’s care.

Antonia’s optimism about her future was also fueled by her boss, Kevin, who is now sitting alongside some of Antonia’s co-workers at her ceremony. Since high school, Antonia has worked for Kevin at a local retail outlet of a national clothing chain; she always loved the company and knew it was supportive. In fact, when she was in high school, the company addressed its high turnover rate by creating a more effective and efficient scheduling system. All employees were guaranteed a minimum number of work hours per week with days and times agreed upon a month in advance. The company also used a tracking system that allowed employees to enter in their extra availability, making it easier for managers to call in additional help, or for employees to swap shifts.

Although Antonia had always appreciated her company’s efforts to work with employees’ scheduling needs, she was anxious about how she would combine her job and her studies with her new role as a mom. But when Antonia explained her situation to Kevin, they worked together to find a solution; Kevin created a set weekly schedule with a minimum of 25 hours a week for when she returned from maternity leave. Antonia can now look back and smile, recalling the relief she felt knowing she would continue to have a stable job with a predictable schedule so she could plan for her child care needs in advance.

Kevin also assured Antonia that she had health care options available that would ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery. He put Antonia in touch with a representative from a health care company, who provided her with information about her coverage options and doctors in her area.

After Jimmy was born, Antonia’s set work hours allowed her to sign up for college classes around her work schedule in the late afternoons and evenings, keeping her on track for graduation. On weeks where she was able to work more, she picked up extra shifts to earn more money. On nights when she needed extra hours to study, or days when she wanted to spend more time with Jimmy, she could often find someone to cover her shift.

While money was tight, and the many demands on her made her feel a bit overwhelmed at times, Antonia knew she was moving forward with her goals. After three years at Glenwood Community College, Antonia transferred to an in-state university with a significant scholarship for the excellent grades she had achieved. At work, her responsibilities increased, as did her pay. Kevin noticed Antonia had a knack for improving the design of the software systems the company used for tracking merchandise and coordinating schedules, and suggested Antonia consider a career in software design. It had never occurred to her to pursue something technical, but she took some classes, loved the work—and was good at it—and eventually declared a major in computer systems analysis.

Soon after choosing her new path, Antonia met Professor Clark, who taught COMP 300: Information and Software Security. Professor Clark was impressed by Antonia’s quick wit, ability to see problems and come up with novel solutions, and her obvious passion for the subject. Professor Clark recommended Antonia for a government fellowship providing students with a valuable apprenticeship experience. Antonia loved the idea of on-the-job training, which would enable her to apply her skills in a real-world setting. She applied and received the fellowship, set to begin one month from today.

As Antonia is listening to the graduation speakers, she is thinking about all of the things that enabled her to get to this day: the support of her employer; the day care that served as a second home for her son; the policies and benefits that enabled her to provide her son with the care and education he deserves; her love for Jimmy, which inspired her to create a better life for him; and her own persistence in the face of challenges. After the speeches come to an end, the dean pauses before handing out the diplomas; this is the precise moment Antonia has been waiting for. “Stand up,” he says, “if you are the first person in your family to graduate from college.” As these words hang in the air, Antonia Jarvis plants her feet firmly on the floor and stands up. With arms outstretched as if to take in all 30 students who stood up, the dean exclaims, “Congratulations! You are the American Dream. You are America’s promise.”

This is a fictional rendering of what life could be like 20 years from now for one woman in America. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The names of businesses and institutions are also fictitious.