9 Things We Can Do to Ensure Economic Justice for Women
What we are told about recessions is weird.
For most of 2007, Bush Administration officials said we were not in a recession, although the rest of us, especially those who had been struggling even when the economy was on firmer footing, knew we were. Now, at the end of 2009 and continuing into 2010, Obama Administration economic advisers tell us the recession is over, although many of us would disagree, based on our own personal situation and experience.
Here in our region, we often hear that we are doing better than most other parts of the country. While that is true overall, unemployment here is still higher than it has been for some time, meaning more people are out of work. In addition, some local jurisdictions are doing worse than others. Unemployment in Ward 8 in the District, for example, was nearly 30 percent in September 2009 (click here for statistics).
My new year’s wish is for economic justice, particularly for low-income women raising children alone (it’s not that we don’t care about you men, but this is The Women’s Foundation, after all). Regardless of whether the economy is weak or strong, my wish list includes:
— More emphasis on and support for subsidized jobs in both the public and private sectors, at least until the economy recovers enough to create more jobs on its own. Public service employment would be one example. Another example, on the private side, is a transitional job program, evaluations of which have shown it to result in increased employment and earnings (click here to read the job program evaluations).
— Increased investment in skills training linked with growing sectors of our regional economy, such as health care. Training should be holistic and include a focus on literacy, soft skills training, career and technical skills training and wrap-around services (such as child care) that help women complete training and successfully transition to the paid workforce.
— Increased investment in job retention services, including critical work supports like child care and transportation that help keep people, particularly low-income women, in the jobs they already have.
— More attention to asset building. Assets are a first line of defense against job loss and economic disaster for many families, particularly low-income families.
— Additional housing assistance, including mortgage relief and rental assistance. Our region’s foreclosure rates are slightly higher than the national average (click here for details) and particularly high in Prince George’s County and among minority homeowners. Foreclosures are also not only in the subprime market anymore, and they are trickling down and affecting renters, translating into greater displacement and homelessness.
— A strengthened safety net for those who do not or cannot benefit immediately from all of the above. Something is terribly wrong with our welfare system when caseloads go down as poverty goes up, as has happened in DC (click here for details).
— Increased federal financial support for state and local governments. This will help soften the foreseeable cuts in public services and employment that accompany another year of budget shortfalls in DC and Maryland and Virginia counties in our region. Now is just not the time for cuts in critical housing, social welfare, public health and workforce development services and personnel.
Finally, I would also challenge local and national reporters to produce more nuanced stories about the economic situation and, specifically, economic inequality in our region. Now *that* could be really informative.
What’s on your list?
