Mothers Are Women was founded in 1984 in Ottawa, Canada, to address the personal, political, and social issues facing women choosing to be at-home mothers. At its peak, MAW's membership included around 800 women organizing workshops, conferences, and discussion groups aimed at providing information, opportunities, and support to women whose commonality was the isolation, alienation, and social penalties of choosing to stay home and parent their children. Using grassroots methods, MAW created an international network that allowed its members to discuss the social and economic difficulties of managing families and opting out of the paid work force. Unfortunately, after a critical transition of leadership in 2001, the organization was unable to maintain the previously held momentum, and by 2004 they were effectively inactive.