Raney Aronson-Rath Quotes

I'm nearly always at home at the weekends; that's important for every working woman today, not just me. I don't encourage people to come in at the weekend and work; I encourage people to go home and create great families.

I'm proud to be Secretary of Labor. But I'm even prouder of two more important titles: dad and husband. I've been able to be all three. I want all working people, no matter what their jobs are, to be able to meet their obligations both at work and at home.

I had the luxury of skipping the cabinet meeting to attend my daughter's graduation. So many people don't have the luxury of taking an hour away from the workplace to attend indispensable family commitments. We have to change that dynamic.

My greatest mistake? I once took a three-day maternity leave. I had my daughter on a Wednesday, and then went back to the office on the Monday to sack a manager.

People have told me, 'You shouldn't bring your daughter onto the podium, 'cause it's the workplace,' and things like that. But I'm not gonna really listen to that. I'm gonna do what I think is fun for me and my family, and everything'll be all right.

After Mason was born, I'd feel guilty doing anything that wasn't related to work.

I have never met a woman who works who doesn't feel guilty. I mean we all deny it like crazy but deep down there is always that voice saying you should be at home.

My working life has always been wrapped up in doing my job to the best of my abilities and doing the best for my family. It is not a contest between the two.

I'm a hard worker and love my work. I have felt pulled toward work. And it's a pull I have ferociously had to counter to make room for my family.

Like everyone else, there are days when I don't want to go to work. However, writing is a job like anything else.

There are days when I struggle with wanting to be a full-time, stay-at-home mom, and feeling guilty about that because I work.

I actually made an effort to reject acting, to shove it out of my body, because I didn't want my kids to have an actress as a mother-to have, like, a silly person.

You can still love your job and feel guilty. You can still love your child and feel guilty. There's a lot of grey in that. It's about being conscious when you are spending time with your kids, being with them in the moment.

If a guy works, and he has children, it's good, and he doesn't feel the same guilt about not being there for the children as a woman would. With a woman, there's that pull: 'Oh, I should be home,' when she's at work, and 'Oh, I should be at work,' when she's at home.

There have definitely been ebbs and flows in my career, but, you know, part of the reason is that I'm a mom. I have a five-year-old daughter. She really factors into my choices, and I never want to go too long without seeing her.

I would venture to guess that if I was a construction worker... who requested a transfer to another department for the betterment of his family, I would be commended for it. But because it's sports, there's just so much passion added to it.

Working moms commonly testify that they feel guilty when they are away from their children and guilty when they are not at their jobs. Devoted fathers certainly miss their children deeply, but it does not seem to be with the same gnawing, primal anxiety that often afflicts women.

I once worked at a record label called London Records. The company was owned by Roger Ames, one of the most successful figures in the British music industry. Roger always placed a value on loafing, on holidays, on not being in the office all the time.

That said, my kids are at home right now with my husband and I'm missing something important at my daughter's school which makes me feel sick inside. It's a lot of balance and a lot of really hard decision making.

I vividly remember early on in my career when I was eight months pregnant, working literally around the clock, and worrying that each trip to the restroom or my need to catch the occasional catnap was causing my colleagues to question whether I could keep up.

It's always so difficult when you've left your kids to go to work every day - you want people to like it. I just agonise over it, but I'm obsessive because I love what I do.

I have a supportive family and an outstanding team, but I also have a flexible work schedule that allows me, at least some of the time, to get to the kids' school program or the doctor visits when I need to. So family-friendly work schedules have become more of a passion of mine, and the cost of childcare is also a huge issue.

When I talk about the C.I.A. stuff, I feel guilt because I left. I really believed in that job, and my colleagues are still there. But I have kids now.

I want my daughter to see that I am a professional and have commitments, but that I'm there when the family needs me, and so is their father. In some cases, more so.

You shouldn't have to win the boss lottery in order to have a little bit of flexibility at work. Raising and supporting a family isn't just a financial obligation. What's important isn't just being able to put food on the dinner table - we want you to be at the dinner table, too.