“Women have never experienced an unemployment rate in the double digits since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting data by gender in 1948 – until now.” Women’s unemployment was almost 3 points higher than men’s in April, and has not experienced the same amount of recovery as men’s in subsequent months. This is due […]
Michigan Women Sue To Repeal Period Tax
Three Michigan women are suing the state’s Treasury Department over taxes on menstrual products, claiming the taxes violates the equal protections clause in both the state and U.S. constitutions. The plaintiffs, represented by menstrual equity group Period Equity, is suing to end the tax and to issue a refund to people who have paid the […]
Pandemic Puts a Spotlight on Black Women’s Pay Gap
This year, August 13 marks Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which represents the approximate date into the new year that Black women must work in order to make what the average white non-Hispanic man made the previous year, recognizing the steep wage gap. Unlike other years, however, the date falls in the midst of the […]
Millions of Dollars of Federal COVID-19 Aid Goes to U.S. Anti-Abortion Groups
Numerous Christian anti-abortion groups received millions of dollars in forgivable loans from the federal coronavirus aid program the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Fortunately, money from this program also went to pro-choice, reproductive rights groups. Notably, Planned Parenthood received $80 million in PPP loans. This allocation of taxpayer-backed dollars comes in the context of a pandemic […]
USAID Afghan Rug Project Aims to Empower Women and Bolster the Economy
A project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is putting Afghanistan’s traditional rug industry back into the hands of Afghan weavers. This project, based in Kabul, aims to grow Afghanistan’s economy and empower women. The nine-million-dollar project, run by Rob Leahy in South Carolina, acts as the ‘middle man’ between Afghan […]
Women Make Up the Majority of COVID-19 Job Losses in the U.S.
Though they make up only half the U.S. workforce, women make up 55 percent of those currently unemployed due to COVID-19, effectively erasing the gains made in workplace equality since the recession of 2008. The current unemployment crisis has been deemed a “she-cession” by C. Nicole Mason, president and chief executive of the Institute for […]
House Democrats Propose $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package
House Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have released their newest bill to address the coronavirus pandemic, proposing ambitious measures to boost the economy, increase COVID-19 testing, and ensure safe elections this fall. Party leaders expect to vote on the bill, dubbed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, on Friday. The 1,815-page […]
Hawaii Introduces COVID-19 ‘Feminist Economic Recovery Plan’
The Hawai’i State Commission on the Status of Women introduced a ‘feminist economic recovery plan’ that is designed to help women recover from the economic hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic. The plan is the first of its’ kind in the nation. The plan, called “Building Bridges, Not Walking on Backs: A Feminist Economic Recovery […]
COVID-19 Job Losses Wipe out Insurance Access for Millions of Americans
As millions file for unemployment, many are now dealing with a pandemic-related ripple effect: a massive loss of employment-dependent health and dental insurance across America. It’s difficult to count just how many Americans have lost insurance. Since Mid-March, about 22 million workers have filed unemployment claims. As the pandemic continues and state workforce offices slowly […]
Women Are The Majority of America’s Essential Workforce
Nearly one in three jobs held by women are officially considered essential work, meaning women are the majority of those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a new report by The New York Times, nearly 52 percent of all essential workers are women. This includes 77 percent of the health care worker, […]
Millions of Low-Income Individuals Waiting for Relief Payments That May Never Arrive
Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that more than 80 million Americans have received their COVID-19 relief payments via direct deposit. However, millions of people are still waiting, or may never receive their payments. The key challenge for the IRS is getting payments to individuals who are not typically required to file tax returns–largely low-income […]
Seven Midwest States Announce Their Plan to Partner on Reopening
On Thursday, governors from seven Midwestern states announced that they will coordinate on reopening the Midwest regional economy. The Midwest pact joins the Northeast and West Coast in an effort to coordinate amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Midwest bipartisan effort includes Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kentucky. In the governors’ collaboration, they announced […]
COVID-19 Small Business Loan Program Runs Out of Funds as Businesses Struggle
Funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, a new federal program part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill signed into law late March, is already running out of funding. With no viable proposals by lawmakers in the works as of yet, the risk of bankruptcies and additional millions of unemployed workers seems more and more plausible […]
Insurance Companies Say Action Must Be Taken to Avoid Collapse of Insurance Industry
Representatives of the insurance industry took action and wrote a letter to some congressional lawmakers in California, revealing that insurance companies do not have the foundations necessary to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. “Insurance coverage works by spreading risk, but that model simply cannot account for a situation in which losses are catastrophic and nearly universal,” […]
Medical Professionals Ask For Advance Medicare Payments During Pandemic
For many healthcare professionals who own medical practices during the coronavirus outbreak, concerns have grown over how to pay rent. Private practices, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities have faced a massive influx of patients, though revenue has dropped because appointments are now generally over the phone or computer. This loss of revenue makes it difficult to pay […]
Majority of COVID-19 Related Job Loss Falls on Women and Minorities
The U.S. Labor Department reports that 701,000 workers were laid off in March due to COVID-19, with almost 60 percent of those being women. Earlier this year, women had overtaken men to make up the majority of the national workforce, but layoffs have put them back in the minority. Stay-at-home orders and mandatory business closures have […]
Instacart, Amazon Workers Strike for Coronavirus Protections
Workers at Instacart and Amazon struck yesterday and today, critiquing the companies for not prioritizing their safety in response to coronavirus. Instacart, an app-based delivery service, employs gig workers to go into grocery stores, pick up orders and deliver orders to homes. The company wrote in an official statement, “As the crisis unfolds, our teams […]
Pay Gap Expected to Worsen Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Activists’ work to close the gender pay gap may be undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to experts, as women take time off or are laid off in order to care for others, any advances could be reversed. The International Labor Organization (ILO) reports that women earn approximately one-fifth less than their male counterparts across […]
Need for Universal Paid Sick and Family Medical Leave More Urgent Than Ever
The global pandemic caused by COVID-19, also commonly referred to as coronavirus, has revealed a number of systemic flaws in the United States that must be addressed, including paid leave. While the nature of this medical crisis draws attention to the lack of paid sick leave, paid family leave is a benefit that should also […]
Women Face Food Insecurity in the Wake of Coronavirus Outbreak
Abby J. Liebman and Liza Lieberman are the President and CEO and Director of Public Policy at MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Learn more about their important and vital work here. Many of us are stunned by the coronavirus outbreak, unsure exactly what to do or how to proceed. Should we stockpile food? Work […]