President-Elect Joe Biden appointed Cecilia Rouse as next chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). In assuming Treasury Secretary-nominee Janet Yellen’s former title, she will be the first African American and fourth woman to fill the role since the Council was established 74 years ago.
Category: Money & Jobs
Janet Yellen Accepts Nomination as First Woman Treasury Secretary: “It’s Essential We Move With Urgency”
In nominating Janet Yellen to be the next treasury secretary of the United States and tasking her to oversee the biggest economy in the world, President-Elect Joe Biden named the first woman ever appointed to the position.
“The value of work always stuck with me. So much so that I became an economist because I was concerned about the toll of unemployment on people, families and communities. And I’ve spent my career trying to make sure people can work and achieve the dignity and self-worth that comes with it,” Yellen said on Dec. 1, accepting her nomination in a moving speech.
Neera Tanden Tapped for OMB Director: “I’m Here Today Because of Social Programs”
On Dec. 1, Neera Tanden accepted the position as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and laid out the importance of the OMB, which oversees financial decisions within the executive branch.
“We relied on food stamps to eat; we relied on Section 8 housing vouchers to pay the rent; we relied on the social safety net to get back on our feet,” she continued. “This country gave her a fair shot to reach the middle class, and she made it work.”
Don’t Reopen the Economy Until It Is Safe To Reopen Schools
Closing schools was supposed to decrease possible COVID contacts, helping to flatten the curve. But opening schools might actually be safer than the unregulated alternatives that parents have come up with for educating and caring for their kids during the workday.
Expert Voices: Redressing Gender Imbalances, One Panel (or “Manel”) at a Time
The energy sector in Mexico is known for its gender imbalance. While women are underrepresented in board of directors in all sectors, the energy sector is worse, with only 3% female participation.
In order to support women’s advancement to the upper echelons of the industry, a group of prominent women in the sector have formed an advocacy organization called Voz Experta. The organization aims to advocate for its members to balance out expert panels composed only of men, or “manels.”
The Need To Resource Feminist Movements Has Never Been Greater. Where’s the Money for Feminist Organizing?
AWID’s latest funding analysis show that 99% of development aid and foundation grants do not reach women’s rights and feminist organizations. WROs receive only 0.12% of the total Official Development Assistance and 0.4% of all gender-related aid. 48% of women’s rights and feminist organizations in the Global South operate on limited annual budgets of $30,000 or less.
Yet the urgency to adequately resource the full diversity of the ecosystem of feminist movements has never been greater.
“Women Doing Whatever We Want”: The Little-Known Fight for Women’s Financial Rights
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 18 has reignited a conversation about women’s rights—including financial ones, which modern Western women hardly question.
Now, with potential rollbacks looming, experts recall the decades of work to secure landmark women’s rights.
Singing the She-cession Blues: How the Pandemic Is Revealing Existing Fault Lines in the U.S. Economy
The Labor Department reported an alarming 865,000 women left the workforce in the month of September.
The Female Future of Work report shows how old the barriers faced by working women are and how seldom U.S. policymakers cared. The new report brings a recognition to working women’s history.
What Women Can Expect from a Biden Presidency: On Work and Family
The work and family prong of Biden’s agenda for women includes high-quality, affordable child care for all families; free universal kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds; support for increased access to after-school, weekend and summer programs; programs to care for older Americans and people with disabilities; paid family and medical leave; and flexible, fair work schedules.
(This piece is the third of a multi-part series covering President-Elect Biden’s platform for women. New installations of the series will be released on Wednesdays.)
Future Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Faces COVID-Induced Economic Crisis
The selection of Janet Yellen as the first woman to serve at the helm of Treasury and oversee the biggest economy in the world is noteworthy. But Yellen’s appointment is in keeping with research that shows women are especially likely to be selected for leadership in the middle of crises. Is she being set up to fail?