Ann Crittenden

Author of "The Price of Motherhood"

Ann Crittenden is an award-winning journalist and author. She was a reporter for The New York Times from 1975 to 1983, where she authored a series on world hunger that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She was also a financial writer and foreign correspondent for Newsweek, a reporter for Fortune, a visiting lecturer at MIT and Yale, and executive director of the Fund for Investigative Journalism in Washington, D.C.

The hardcover release of her book, "The Price of Motherhood," created a national stir. Crittenden utilizes her extensive background in economics to show how the work of raising children creates enormous wealth for society, but huge economic penalties for those who do the work. Some of her findings:

College-educated women pay a "mommy tax" of over a million dollars in lost income when they have a child; Most statutes of family law fail to provide mothers with either financial equality in marriage or financial security in divorce; The work of at-home mothers is excluded from GDP statistics, and caregivers earn zero Social Security credits for the years they spend caring for a child or other family members. As a result, mothers are by far the poorest people in old age. 

Crittenden deftly dismantles the myth that choosing to have a child is the same as choosing these inequalities. Instead, she clearly shows how, with the proper recognition and reward for the contributions that mothers make, all members of society, especially children, would benefit. As more and more citizens become concerned about and involved with this issue, Ann Crittenden's rare and galvanizing set of ideas will serve as the benchmarks not only for what should be done, but what must be done.

"If 'The Feminine Mystique' was the book that laid the seeds for the women's movement of the 1960's, 'The Price of Motherhood' may someday be regarded as the one that did the same for the mothers' movement."- Stephanie Wilkinson, Editor, Brain, Child: A Magazine for Thinking Mothers.

Crittenden's latest book, published in September 2004, is "If You've Raised Kids, You Can Manage Anything," the first leadership book based on the lessons learned by conscientious parents. Based on interviews with more than 100 successful mothers and fathers, the book describes the many transferable skills that enable a good parent to become a better manager or leader. 

Her previous books include "Sanctuary: A Story of American Conscience and the Law in Collision," which was a New York Times Notable Book in 1988, and "Killing the Sacred Cows: Bold Ideas for a New Economy." Her articles have appeared in numerous national publications, including The Nation, Foreign Affairs, Working Mother, The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Barron's, among others.