Mothers Day 2017: Sheryl Sandberg Argues For Better Public Policy

On Mother’s Day, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg used her company’s platform to advocate for better policies for pay women in the workforce.

“This is an emotional day for so many reasons – because we thank the mothers we have and remember the mothers and the children we’ve lost,” Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post. “I hope we can also use this day to commit to do more for all the mothers who have given so much and deserve even more.”

Sandberg — who lost her husband, SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, suddenly two years ago — took to Facebook on Mother’s Day in 2016, too, writing about the financial and emotional burdens single mothers face. She expanded on that theme this year, emphasizing the need for paid leave, raising the minimum wage and affordable childcare.

“It’s time for our public policies to catch up with what our families deserve and our values demand,” she wrote. “Child care for two children exceeds the median annual rent in all 50 states. How are parents supposed to work if they don’t have a safe and affordable place to leave their kids?”

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Sandberg, who has often discussed how she has come to dread Father’s Day now that her children don’t have anyone to celebrate, also acknowledged those for whom this day might be “more painful than celebratory.”

She concluded by turning personal, thanking her mother for providing her with the strength she needed to endure the last two years since the loss of her husband, and her mother-in-law for all her support.

Read What Sheryl Sandberg Is Advocating For on Mother’s Day