ABSTRACT
Meaningful progress has been made, but more barriers must be removed from the roads that remain to be traveled before women can achieve the positions they deserve and in which they can make significant contributions. Women occupy a central role in health and healthcare for their families. Their myriad roles emanate, in part, from being daughters, spouses, partners, and mothers. The healthcare of women before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as the outcome of pregnancies, are of critical importance to women and to population health. While this involvement in the health and healthcare of American families is of great benefit to society, it places a disproportionate burden on women as they try to develop their careers and it affects their earnings. Policies that acknowledge this differential responsibility between men and women are needed to ameliorate these disparities.
