Half a dozen senior White House staff met recently with representatives of about a dozen women’s advocacy groups, including Your (Wo)Man in Washington on behalf of NAMC/MOTHERS, to discuss the process of crafting the federal budget. We had sent the President and Vice President a letter objecting to the total lack of any visible female [...]
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Unemployment Among Husbands and Wives
Does it make a difference whether it is the husband or the wife who is unemployed? Most definitely, says Heather Boushey, feminist economist extraordinaire here in Washington DC. It affects how much money comes into the home, and suggests that action is needed to close the gap between men’s and women’s earnings. Heather’s recent report, [...]
Missing: The American Middle Class
Do you understand how come it got so bad for so many households these days? I’ve been looking at “The American Middle Class Under Stress” report by Sherle R. Schewenninger and Samuel Sherraden of the New America Foundation. It probably won’t make you feel any better, or suddenly fill up your bank account, but sometimes [...]
You’re Taking Care of Others, But Who’s Taking Care of You?!
Lara Hinz, my friend, colleague and Director of Programs at the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) has penned this guest post. She raises a very important point – while we have our hands full taking care of others, our own future well-being is likely falling by the wayside. WISER aims to change that [...]
The 2011 Mothers Index – US Ranks #31
For the 12th year in a row, international non-profit Save the Children ranks the well-being of mothers and children in over 160 countries around the world. With Mother’s Day in the US fresh on our minds, this timely report reveals what women need to raise their children, and the direct link between women’s status and [...]
Recession Update: Women Left Out of Recovery
As we limp along in what passes for an economic “recovery”, the numbers show that the barely discernible uptick in employment is benefitting only half the workforce. Men’s employment has begun to increase in recent months, but women have continued to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs in that time. The story of the “mancession” [...]
The Care Crisis: Unpaid Leave is No Leave At All
Unlike the rest of the world, the US does not guarantee mothers and fathers paid time off from work when a baby is born or child adopted. This comes as a total shock and surprise to many. Some people, especially professionals and those at large companies, will be offered a certain number of weeks with [...]
Why the GDP Won’t Work for Women
You probably know that GDP stands for gross domestic product and is used as a measure of the value of all goods and services produced in the national economy. Economists and elected officials are happy when GDP is up, and headlines are dire if GDP trends downward or is flat. Generally speaking, the assumption is [...]
March in the Rear View Mirror
Women’s History Month is drawing to a close, but there’s time to sneak in a few comments before we wake up and find it’s April already. In recent weeks, two notable women have died. Elizabeth Taylor left as her legacy decades of activism and outspoken advocacy, saying what many in politics were too afraid to [...]
The Mother/Scholar and On-Campus Child Care
A young mother wrote me some time ago asking if there were any Mothers’ Centers on college campuses. She wanted to connect with students who were also raising children, facing coursework and degree requirements at the same time. I regrettably had to say no, not yet. I had no idea how many student/parents there were, [...]
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