THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601210041
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ELIZABETH SIMPSON
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
What can you buy for $25 these days?
Dinner for two at a nice restaurant? Well, not too fancy a place, but a reasonably priced one.
A movie for a family of four? Yes, but go easy on the popcorn; we're talking $25 here, after all.
I've been throwing this figure around the last couple of days because of a bill now before the General Assembly. The proposal, introduced by Del. Clifton A. Woodrum, is to give families with a stay-at-home parent a $25 tax credit.
While that might not sound like a lot of money, it does provide a symbolic pat on the back, and that's why I liked the idea at first blush.
Margaret Martin, the stay-at-home mother in Roanoke who pitched the bill to Woodrum, said she got the idea during a college class on women and work.
``We got into a discussion about women who work at home and how they are looked down upon by society, and about how they don't get paid,'' Martin said. ``And the professor said even a tax credit would help.''
Martin has been trying to translate that thought into law for three years now. And although the amount may seem trivial, the symbolism is powerful.
There's much I like about honoring stay-at-home parents. I had such a mother myself when I was a child, and there's no putting a price tag on the sense of security that gave me. A $25-a-year tax credit might drive home the point that quality time doesn't necessarily make up for quantity of time where kids are concerned. And that absentee parenting takes a toll on young lives.
A tax credit for stay-at-home-parents would also give a nod to the financial sacrifices those parents make to care for their children at home. And maybe the amount of this tax credit would grow over the years as stay-at-home parents receive the respect they deserve.
But even though I like the idea of giving stay-at-home parents a financial break, even if it's small, I must stop short of supporting the bill. Here's why.
Stay-at-home parenting is not an option for a growing number of parents. It's not just career-driven, climb-the-ladder-at-any-cost women who have entered the work force, but mothers who would rather stay home but can't afford that arrangement.
Maybe I'm sensitive to this issue because I'm a working mother myself. And the last time I touched on this subject, I was accused of going back to work so I could afford a luxurious $200,000 house. (Anyone who thinks my house is worth that much is welcome to come make a deal. Immediately.)
For myself, and for many families, having two parents work is a matter of day-to-day survival.
The tax credit would also leave out a lot of other hard-working people: Single-parent families. Welfare parents. The working poor.
Although the $25 a year doesn't sound like much to an individual family, collectively it could be as much as $1 million out of state coffers.
Maybe there are better ways to use that money. How about a program to keep two-parent families from becoming one-parent ones? Or a mentoring program to curb teen pregnancy? Or a high-school class to teach youngsters what good parenting is all about?
After all, being a good parent is a reward in itself. by CNB