The American Jobs Plan devotes billions of dollars towards transportation, clean energy and innovation. But—as is too often the case—the “controversial” funding is the provision that will help women recover from the disproportionate harm they faced during the pandemic.
Category: Money & Jobs
Financial Education Won’t Fix Poverty. We Need Structural Change.
Financial education won’t undo systemic inequity and exclusion. Until we forge the products, practices and policies that advance an equitable economy, we can’t ask the individual to overcome the structural.
April is Financial Literacy Month. Here’s hoping it’s the last.
My Home Is a Work Place: Domestic Workers Need Health and Safety Protections
“This past year has been devastating for domestic workers across the country,” writes Lily Tomlin, Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor and comedian. “This month, domestic workers are demanding an end to the exclusion from health and safety laws through the Health and Safety for All Workers Act, introduced by California state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo. The governor vetoed the bill last year, but this year, he has an opportunity to do right by our most essential workers.”
Feminists Unite Against Sexual Harassment and Subminimum Wages Plaguing Service Workers
Research already showed how the pandemic exacerbated sexual harassment experienced by service workers. New research shows tipped workers who earn below the minimum wage are even more likely to experience harassment.
Table For 12, Please: Isabel Guzman, Small Business Administrator, Will Manage $1 Trillion in Relief
On March 16, the Senate confirmed Isabella Casillas Guzman, President Biden’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA), an agency that has seen its profile grow enormously in response to the pandemic. She is the first Latina to lead the agency and the only Latina in Biden’s diverse Cabinet.
“Now more than ever, our small businesses need us,” Guzman said.
COVID-19 is Exposing the Need for Permanent Structural Change
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women have lost three decades of hard-fought gains in a single year. But injustices and inequities that existed long before COVID-19 have been exposed—and conversations around how we can support women are finally started. This is a moment like none before, and we need permanent, structural change to reach full equity.
Guaranteed Income in Mississippi Designed By Black Moms for Black Moms, Showing Results for Black Moms
Magnolia Mother’s Trust and other guaranteed income programs make the case that cash without restrictions is a crucial and powerful component of the social safety net that the federal government should provide.
Stimulus Aid Will Sustain 1 Million Child Care Jobs. Biden’s Jobs Plan Must Do More.
As President Biden prepares to introduce a new plan aimed at jumpstarting economic rebirth, he must build on a key lesson from the past year: There is no equitable jobs plan that does not include child care.
Full Employment is Not Enough to Support Black Women
As has been well-documented during this pandemic, women and men interact with the economy differently. Because of occupational segregation and caregiving obligations, women have been forced out of the workforce at a higher rate than men. For new full-employment policies to serve women, they must proactively address these and other obstacles.
From the Vault: “Welfare is a Women’s Issue” (Spring 1972)
From the Spring 1972 issue:
“Society needs women on welfare as ‘examples’ to let every woman, factory workers and housewife workers alike, know what will happen if she lets up, if she’s laid off, if she tries to go it alone without a man.”