by Page Gardner
Today, Equality Day, marks the 90th anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. A lot has changed in ninety years, but one fact remains more salient than most: women are a political force to be reckoned with in this country.
Washington, DC—Today, Women’s Voices Women Vote and the Center for American Progress unveiled The Other Half: Unmarried Women, Economic Well-Being and the Great Recession which highlights the impact of the Great Recession on unmarried American women and the families and households that rely on them. This demographic has grown to include three in ten households and they are raising 25 percent of all American children under 18.
While stumping for Michigan politician Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski, Phyllis Schlafly once again dipped into her poisoned well of rhetoric. Her target was unmarried women, and she returned to the tired old trope of welfare abuse. Ms. Schlafly said the only reason these women turned out to vote was because “when you kick your husband out, you gotta have Big Brother Government to be your provider.” Her comments are insulting to unmarried women and to the democratic process.
New data released last week by the Labor Department shows the continuing consequences of the Great Recession for unmarried women. This group continues to experience high and extended unemployment as well as underemployment, and this underscores the urgent need for Congress and the administration to continue to focus on job creation and policies to spur demand and assist the unemployed.
By Page Gardner
Ten million American women are raising children on their own. On this Mother’s Day, we should thank these hard-working moms and look to what we as a society could be doing to improve their lives, and the lives of their children.
The following statement was delivered by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)
Among the many great benefits of the commonsense health reform package we passed last month is a guarantee that finally in America being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition. By bringing an end to discriminatory policies like gender rating and insurance coverage for maternity, preventive, and wellness care, our legislation puts women’s health on an equal footing at long last.
Despite the fact that women now make up half the nation’s workforce, the problem of unequal pay persists nearly 50 years after passage of the 1963 Equal Pay Act. Most women are in the workforce today, and most families rely on the earnings of women to get by—especially those headed by unmarried women. Unequal pay is not just a matter of equal rights it is a matter of basic economic survival. In fact, families headed by a single woman are twice as likely to be in poverty as families headed by a single man.
COBRA is an important law that helps millions of Americans maintain health insurance during moments of financial uncertainty. However, it is a prime example of the kind of public policy that has not kept pace with the changing nature of the American household and workplace. By applying only to an employee and his or her spouse and children, it allows millions of other Americans to be discriminated against based on their gender, sexual orientation, and martial status.
The Equal Access to COBRA Act responds to a flaw in the current health care system and would move America closer to health care equality. As Weiss and Rosenthal argue, the ACT “would correct [these] outdated policies and ensure continued health coverage for more American families.”
Currently, one-quarter of all unmarried women ages18-64 have no health insurance. However, a recent analysis by Liz Weiss of the Center for American Progress identifies several ways in which the health care reform act signed into law by President Obama will address many of the health insurance disparities affecting unmarried women.
This sweeping legislation finally addresses existing health insurance obstacles facing unmarried women and serves to expand quality, affordable health insurance coverage for them.
While unmarried women face major economic disparities, a new joint WVWV-Center for American Progress report sets out a comprehensive economic security agenda for improving the economic conditions of unmarried women, focusing on jobs and the workplace, single mothers, housing, health care, personal finances, and retirement.
This week, WVWV released a demographic report and extensive PowerPoint presentation that detail the seismic shift in America since 1960, when America moved from a nation where marriage was the norm to today, where 45 percent of all adults in the United States are unmarried and half of all women live on their own.
Today, WVWV and the Center for American Progress release a new report outlining relevant legislation in the current Congress that will advance the economic security of all Americans and especially unmarried women.
The report follows up from our 2008 report on the public policy needs of unmarried women and sets out a comprehensive economic security agenda focusing on jobs and the workplace, single mothers, housing, health care, personal finances, and retirement.
On Monday the President of the United States is sitting down with Steve Grove from CitizenTube and will be answering a series of questions generated directly from their Youtube channel. They have about eight video questions up right now, but none of them are from women.
There are currently more than 51 million single, separated, divorced, or widowed women in the United States. Unmarried women are also one of the fastest growing demographic groups.
Today’s workforce is comprised of employees with diverse family structures and changing life responsibilities. The prevalence of single workers and their diverse life circumstances means that workforce policies should address their needs. Indeed, we need to pay attention to the different ways that women are living their lives, and establish policies that will enable unmarried women to take care of themselves and their families.