Serena Williams wrote a raw and candid Vogue essay about her retirement.
Williams said that she has to choose between her career and family.
There's no change in sight because the US economy relies on women's labor.
I didn't want to have to choose between tennis and a family.
Serena Williams wrote in Vogue that it was time to "evolve" away from tennis and focus on her family. It's a decision women have been making for a long time.
She wrote that she wouldn't be writing this if she were a man because she'd be playing and winning while her wife was working. If I had that chance, I might be more of a Tom Brady.
I felt a sense of despair after she spoke. I support Williams' decision to invest in her family, but I don't want her career to end like this.
I hate that I have to be at this crossroads.
My sister and I pretended to be the Williams sisters when we were younger. They were symbols of power. It was amazing to follow Serena's career as a child. She seemed to be able to do anything she wanted. Reality says differently.
What does it mean for the rest of the child-bearing population if a woman of Williams' means, talent, and resources has to choose between career and family?
She wrote that she hates that she has to make a decision. I don't like it either.
I hold on to hope that things will change for women. I've followed her advice. I don't know if I'm being naive. President Joe Biden promised to establish paid family leave and more affordable child care. During her father's time in office,Ivanka Trump supported it.
Efforts didn't last. The child tax credit that sent monthly payments to families was a blessing for many parents, but it ended at the end of the year. One study found that the childhood poverty rate increased after that. It was a sign that many families were struggling again, putting women back in the position of having to choose between paid or not paid work for their kids.
The Inflation Reduction Act puts $740 billion behind climate and healthcare spending, but there's no mention of paid leave or affordable care. It doesn't go far enough in addressing the problems facing working families, according to Sen. Many Congress members don't care.
The situation for women who domestic labor as parents is not compensated has been made worse by the Pandemic.
Laura Danger told Insider that domestic labor is labor. We're pretending that this work isn't important.
Many women will run up against a similar dilemma at some point: Do they pursue more high-profile work opportunities or scale back to care for children or aging parents? Do we want our own version of the 24th Grand Slam? Do we listen to calls from society to care for our family?
Williams admits that women can't have everything. Surveys show that women are more likely to leave the workforce to care for their family. Hundreds of thousands of women have left the workforce due to a lack of affordable child care. Many people have not come back.
It seems like there is little reprieve for women who try to make it work. When it is, hybrid work comes with its own challenges, like less face-to-face time with decision-makers who promote people. Part-time work is hard to find.
"I could pursue my career, but I'm turning 41 this month, and something's got to give," she said.
If I have to choose between my tennis career and my family, I will.
Women make that choice in the US economy. It is more than frustrating.
"If you want to make the economic, rational decision, it makes sense that the person with the larger earnings goes back to work, so that would be the husband," Doepke was quoted as saying.
Over the past year there have been unsuccessful attempts to make paid leave law. Many women are hopeful that this time will be different. Nothing has changed.
Someone has to be involved in the child's life for a woman like Williams to be able to afford the best care. Society expects the woman to fill that role.
She needs to either be in tennis or out. She is going to step out. It's a decision that a lot of women have made before.
She contributed to the article.
Business Insider has an article on it.
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