Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks said during a White House summit that the policies on women in the U.S. need to be updated. Also during the event, President Obama called on an update to policies to make the workplace family friendly.
Hendricks told the audience that, “in the 21st Century, the only place for a story like Joan’s should be on TV,” reports Variety. She was referencing her character on the show, Joan Harris, who is a working single mother.
She later added, “Our current policies seem to be from the Mad Men era,” referencing a comment Obama made during his State of the Union address. “It is time for that story to go the way of the rotary phone and the typewriter,” she added.
The summit took place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel and hosted by the Center for American Progress, the Department of Labor and the White House Council on Women and Girls.
During his speech, Obama pushed for maternity leave pay, notes The Associated Press. “Many women can’t even get a paid day off to give birth — now that’s a pretty low bar,” the president said. “That, we should be able to take care of.”
Obama said that the U.S. is the only developed country without paid maternity leave, although some private companies do offer it. “And that is not the list you want to be on — on your lonesome,” Obama continued. “It’s time to change that.”
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