| "Just breastfeed!" That phrase has been thrown around a lot in recent weeks amid the baby formula shortage in the United States. Breastfeeding is "free," the logic goes. Also, "easy." But "this is cruel to any parent who can't make the milk their child needs," our columnist Alyssa Rosenberg writes. "And it's not true." Breastfeeding, even when it goes well, costs money and especially time. And Alyssa, who gave birth to her second child in October, had probably a clearer sense than many people do of exactly how much breastfeeding costs — because she saved her receipts for all the supplies that helped keep her comfortable and producing milk, and because she used an app to track every minute she spent nursing and pumping milk for the first six months of her baby's life. The result is this truly eye-opening visual essay, produced with Opinions' crack design team. Maybe you have a vague sense that breastfeeding is time-consuming. This project helps you see the costs. For Alyssa: 486 hours over the course of six months. The value of that time based on the median salary women were paid in the first quarter of this year: $11,460. Curious how much breastfeeding might cost you? Don't miss the salary slider embedded in the piece. Plug in your earnings, and it will calculate the value of your time if you were paid your usual wage to breastfeed for six months. "Breastfeeding does have enormous value," Alyssa writes, but it is "anything but free. A society that truly values breastfeeding would assume some of the costs associated with nursing, rather than pretending they don't exist."  (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) Breastfeeding costs money and time. I know, because I tracked every minute I spent nursing and pumping for the first six months of my son's life. Interactive ● By Alyssa Rosenberg ● Read more » | | | | The Saudi crown prince's efforts to avoid accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi are about to pay off with a meeting with President Biden. By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | Most Americans agree on what to do now. Let's get started. By Hugh Hewitt ● Read more » | | | | We need to be able to count on our public officials to make sure schools are safe. By Kathleen Parker ● Read more » | | | This is why we can't have a common-sense compromise about gun violence. By Dana Milbank ● Read more » | | | | The case against Michael Sussmann was both narrow and paper-thin from the start. By David Kendall ● Read more » | | | | Three years, millions of dollars spent, and this is what Republicans have to show for it? By Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | | Runaway inflation is a serious problem. It deserves a serious plan to combat it. By Henry Olsen ● Read more » | | | Women's graphic accounts of the physical and emotional toll of childbearing are called for to make the case for our rights. Audio Article ● By Kate Manning ● Read more » | | | | The high court is seeking the cellphones of law clerks. By Erik Wemple ● Read more » | | | | It's all part of a strategy to speed the U.S. transition from fossil fuels. By Marc A. Thiessen ● Read more » | | | | All that rhetoric about leaving decisions to the states? Forget about it. By Paul Waldman ● Read more » | | | | The First Amendment provides no exception for judges' residences as venues where the people may peaceably air their concerns, but the Constitution also guarantees fair and impartial due process. By Mark J. Rozell ● Read more » | | | | 
Email
No comments:
Post a Comment