The old parenting adage is that it “takes a village” to raise a child, so it can be hard for a parent to find time to care for their family and take on the challenge of running for office – that’s where Vote Mama comes in.

The group Vote Mama was founded in 2018 by former congressional candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley, who had two young children to care for while also running for New York’s 2nd Congressional District. During her run, Grechen Shirley was given permission by the Federal Election Commission to spend campaign funds on child care.

Despite making up more than half of the population in the United States, there is still a major gender gap on the federal level when it comes to representation. While glass ceilings have been shattered with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Kathy Hochul being the first women to hold their positions, less than a third of the representatives in Congress and just a quarter of the senators are women, according to the Pew Research Center.

Sarah Hague, Vote Mama’s chief program officer, told Capital Tonight that “caregiving status” should be considered in the “makeup of decision-making bodies.”

Hague said the “system wasn’t made for moms” but work is being done at the state level to help moms run for office by allowing them to use campaign funds for child care.