If she were a woman of color, however, that gap would be even greater. In the Washington region, the median earnings for black women are over $37,000 less than that of white men ($46,138 vs. $83,299). For Latinas, the gap is more than $52,000 ($30,831 vs. $83,299). Asian women have median earnings of $48,891 – over $34,000 less than the earnings of white men.*

If women’s incomes matched those of white men, what would that additional money mean for women of color in our community? It would be more than enough to fund an entire associate’s degree at a local community college. It would fund more than half of a bachelor’s degree at some local universities. It would send three children to a really high-quality preschool in DC. And it would cover the cost of a two-bedroom apartment in the District. It could provide more reliable transportation and could fund afterschool activities and trips. Something could be set aside for the inevitable emergencies life throws everyone’s way, and investments could be made.

In addition to funding the basic needs of themselves and their families, these women would be putting a staggering amount of money back into our community. In our report, 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, we shared that nearly two million women live in the DC region. Fifty-three percent of them are Asian, black or Latina – that’s about one million. If just half of them had an income that matched the median earnings of white men, they’d have a combined income of $42 trillion. And that’s only half! Imagine if all women across the area were compensated as well as men….

That money would support families, be spent at local businesses, and could be invested in assets across our region that would build better neighborhoods and ultimately a better community. A significant portion would go to the federal government and – given the fact that women donate an average of 3.5 percent of their wealth – the nonprofit community would see some pretty significant changes, as well.

In addition to discussing what women would do with a higher income, I think it’s important to recognize what we can all accomplish when women earn more. Like so many other things, pay equity is an issue that primarily touches the lives of women – but it’s not simply a “women’s issue.” It affects every one of us and as long as it exists, it means that we’re not doing as well as we could be economically or morally. Equal pay for equal work is the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, and the only thing to do if we truly want to make this a country where everyone can thrive.

*See page 32 of 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Tags: women, pay, gap, equal pay day

Job Training & Creation

We applaud the city’s efforts to revitalize the Workforce Investment Council and establish the D.C. Workforce Intermediary – an important resource for our community. The mayor is correct that wide disparities exist in unemployment rates across the city. In order to be successful, job training programs should include the following elements in order to meet the needs of low-income women: literacy and adult basic education to address the basic skills gap, case management and access to supportive services, links to credentials and/or post-secondary education, and job placement and retention support.

As the city moves forward with its efforts to create more jobs for those who already live in the District, we hope that Mayor Gray will ensure that they are good jobs. More women and their families will be able to move out of poverty with employment that pays family-sustaining wages and provides employees with benefits.

Education

We were enthusiastic about the mayor’s focus on early care and education and the strides that have been made in that area; however, there is much more to be done. We’re still seeing a shortage of infant and toddler slots at high-quality childcare centers in the District. If we want to be a city that can grow an even more vibrant, creative workforce down the road, we need to start early on and ensure that every child in the city is able to attend a good preschool and enter elementary school ready to learn.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Last night, Mayor Gray remarked that “in just two years, 3,300 people have moved from welfare to work.” This is good news but also glosses over some complex issues. The DC Fiscal Policy Institute reports that two-thirds of District residents enrolled to receive TANF benefits are children – they can’t work. And according to the Urban Institute, most TANF recipients have at least one barrier to obtaining employment. For some, it’s not possible to simply step out of welfare and into a job. We need continued investments in the programs that can bridge the gaps between the two and truly allow individuals to stand on their own.

Affordable Housing

Mayor Gray’s most anticipated announcement during his address was his proposal to “invest $100 million in building and preserving 10,000 units of affordable housing.” Investments like this are critically needed, but we must ensure that there is a continuum of housing options available in all wards in the District. Affordability isn’t the only housing issue faced by low-income families. Many, especially those with children, live in overcrowded housing. Women-headed families are particularly susceptible to this.

We hope that the mayor considers ways to increase the supply of larger affordable housing units that can accommodate all types of families.

Nonprofits

At The Women’s Foundation, we know first-hand that there are many nonprofits working to improve the lives of all residents in the District. We applaud the mayor’s recognition of this important work that often goes unrecognized. Strong partnerships between government, nonprofits and business are the only way that we will put every family on a path to prosperity and end poverty in D.C. and across the region.

Finally, we noted that Mayor Gray never made a specific mention of women or girls. We call on him and other leaders across our community to recognize and invest in the power and potential of women and girls. They are both the world’s largest growing economic force and the heads of our community’s most vulnerable families. Investing in them is a surefire way to see real, sustained change in families, neighborhoods, wards and the entire District.

Tags: DC, women, girls, vince, gray, state of the district, affordable housing, poverty

5. The Paycheck Fairness Act. In June, the Senate failed to move forward with legislation that would have helped ensure equal pay for both genders. The Paycheck Fairness Act would have required employers to demonstrate that gender does not play a role in salary differences between men and women performing the same work. The Senate fell eight votes short of advancing the bill, but – due to some political maneuvering – didn’t totally kill it. According to the Census Bureau, women’s median annual earnings are about 78 percent that of men’s. The gap is even greater for women of color.

4. 2012 Farm Bill. Food insecurity disproportionately impacts low-income women and children, who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. SNAP is part of the Farm Bill, which was up for renewal this year (it has to be renewed every five years). The bill expired in September and Congress was unable to pass a new version before the House adjourned last week. The future of the bill could be impacted before the end of the year by fiscal cliff negotiations or retroactive extensions. The biggest points of disagreement in the bill are farm subsidies and SNAP benefits. There are currently 47 million people enrolled in the food stamps program.

3. The 2012 Election. While the election itself is not a policy, the record number of women elected to Congress in 2012 will likely have a significant impact on future policy. In spite of the notable increase, women still only make up 17 percent of Congress – we have a long way to go. Higher political representation for women at the national, state and local levels increases the likelihood that laws and policies will reflect the needs and interests of women and children.

2. Affordable Care Act. In June, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which will be an important tool in improving the health and economic security of low-income women and their children. Under the ACA, women will pay lower healthcare costs and can receive preventative care without co-pays. Medicaid coverage will also be expanded to cover more families who live above the poverty line but who are still economically insecure.

1. Resolving the “Fiscal Cliff.” This is still a work-in-progress… we hope. If there’s no compromise, experts say that the hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars in tax increases and spending cuts that will take place on January 1st will likely push the country into a recession. The impact on low-income women and children would be disproportionate and particularly devastating. The services and policies that could be affected include: the Earned Income Tax Credit, the child tax credit, Head Start and other child care programs, nutrition assistance and housing assistance. As negotiations continue, the President and Congress need to work together to keep the country from going over the cliff – and not at the expense of our most economically vulnerable families.

Tags: fiscal, cliff, policy, women, families, poverty, year, in, review, 2012

I was invited to the summit to share some of my experiences and perspectives of service and volunteering from my years at the Corporation for National and Community Service, as well as great examples of some of The Women’s Foundation’s grantee partners, like A Wider Circle, who engage all levels of volunteers as part of their business models.  And I was able to connect with some of the nonprofits in Spain that provide important services to women and girls during these times of increasing need.

It was interesting to learn that Spain’s history and social and cultural norms have resulted in the government playing a significant role in funding for and solving social issues and, in many cases, limited the ability of NGOs and individuals to step in when there is a void.  As a fairly new democracy, the idea of voluntary “citizen service” is also relatively new and many participants in the summit were excited about the idea of spurring innovation and creative solutions to the challenges Spain is facing.  It is also worth noting how powerful a force family is in Spain – that one’s family is the major source of support, comfort, and sustenance when needed.

As enamored as I was with the city of Madrid, its history, art, culture, fashion, architecture, and food (funny how quickly I adapted to dinner at 10 pm!), I was even more enamored by the sense of optimism of the people I met – people who are determined to address the difficult economy the country is facing with renewed focus on the power and potential of nonprofits, foundations, corporations, volunteers, philanthropy, and the government collaborating in new ways and learning from each other – both within Spain and across the world.  As so many countries struggle to recover from economic downturns, it will be more important than ever for us to have gatherings like the Service Innovations Summit that facilitate the sharing of ideas and resources to ensure that all sectors are working as effectively as possible.

Nicky Goren is president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Tags: service innovations summit, madrid, spain, unemployment, nonprofit, ngo, volunteering, ideas, partnership

A week later she was fired, and, within a few months, reported that her car had been repossessed, and that she had been unable to pay her utility bills.

Despite the struggles of poor Americans like Tamara, the way the media portrays poverty in America is changing. Between headlines like “Bleak Portrait of Poverty is Off the Mark,” in The New York Times, and the recent release of the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, a long-standing debate as to what constitutes poverty in the U.S. and how many people are truly poor has reemerged.

In particular, some argue that poor families’ standards of living have steadily risen over the last several decades, such that someone who is classified as poor today is likely to own a television or an X-box. Poor families’ consumption levels also tend to outpace their reported income levels, suggesting the poor have more resources available to them than expected, or that they systematically under-report their income.

Yet a study in which I’ve been involved for the past five years suggests that, regardless of where the official poverty mark is set, the lives of those living close to the poverty line are quite difficult, particularly during this economic downturn.

Since 2006, I have been interviewing a group of mostly single, African American mothers in their 30s and 40s living around Detroit, Michigan. Even during the best of economic times, female-headed households, particularly African American ones, tend to be one of the most vulnerable segments of our society.

During the recession, these women’s struggles have only worsened. The tough economy is partially to blame, but they have also had to find ways to weather the recession with minimal and unreliable assistance. Of the ways these women can seek support, none are very satisfying.

The first option is Unemployment Insurance (UI). When women like Tamara have lost their jobs, however, most do not qualify for UI. Some because of low earnings, others because the circumstances around their termination were complicated.

An alternative is the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (welfare). Early on, we asked women about experiences with the welfare office, and many chose not to receive these benefits during times of job loss because they did not want to be treated as if they were looking for a handout.

Given the benefits they could expect to receive, some women deemed the time and effort of dealing with a discourteous bureaucracy simply not worth it. Instead, they opted to receive food stamps only, which involves less interaction with the welfare office.

For women who decided to apply for benefits, the path was not much easier. In 2009, Nichelle*, another woman in our study, returned to Michigan when she lost her out-of-state job. Before moving back, she submitted an application online for assistance. Despite her planning, she waited more than a year for any benefits. She was first told her paper work was lost, and subsequently shuttled between various caseworkers.

Even the women who successfully apply for benefits struggle to maintain them. Take the example of Rhonda*, whose caseworker made a mistake when it was time for her food stamp case to be recertified, which happened every six months. During one of the recertification periods, Rhonda’s caseworker inadvertently closed the case and then Rhonda “couldn’t figure out how to get it straightened out.” It took four months for the mistake to be undone.

Regardless of their individual experiences, all of these women struggle with debt. Most choose to keep their gas and electricity connected, often by carrying large balances with the utility company. A few turned to credit cards during periods of unemployment or underemployment. With no other source of income, Nichelle used her credit card, as well as her refund from the Earned Income Tax Credit, to pay for a motel room with her children for nearly a year.

Food stamps, although necessary, will not pay for an overdue electricity bill or a required school uniform. While credit cards and debt accrual strategies may help families maintain a certain level of consumption, high interest rates mean even more debt, and a damaged credit score often follows.

Is this the kind of safety net we want? These women need better options to turn to without roadblocks every step of the way.

* All of the names in this piece have been changed to protect the women’s identities.

Kristin S. Seefeldt is an assistant professor for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.

This entry was re-posted with permission from Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity, the source for news, ideas and action.

Tags: women, poverty, employment, low, income, recession, family, families, working

As I listened to the speech, I thought about the work that we do at The Women’s Foundation and the intersection between the federal policies discussed and the reality that women and girls in our region face, and I was once again struck by the huge disconnect that we continue to see.

The theme of the speech—economic fairness—sounds quite simple and logical.  The President spoke about how his grandparents contributed to a post-World War II “story of success that every American had a chance to share – the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.”  He called this “the defining issue of our time,” saying, “No challenge is more urgent.  No debate is more important.  We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by.  Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”  Who can argue with that?  Hard to disagree with the logic, so why can’t we get there?

Ask anyone who is out in the community, working in the trenches, and they will tell you that it’s not easy. The issues facing our nation and our local community are incredibly complex and they didn’t just pop up overnight, which means that the solutions are not simple, one-dimensional responses, and the problems won’t be solved with a blink of the eye.

Take the President’s commitment to train people with skills that will lead directly to jobs and his call to cut through “the maze of confusing training programs.”  Sounds like a no-brainer — of course we should train people with skills that lead to jobs; but just this past week we were once again reminded why something that may seem intuitive isn’t.  WAMU aired a report investigating D.C.’s job training programs and detailed the disconnect between some of the programs that are receiving funding, the skill sets required for the jobs people were being trained for, and ultimately, the availability of these jobs.  The example cited was the 4,000 people trained to earn a Commercial Drivers License and the 90 people who were ultimately hired by metro, the region’s largest CDL employer. How can there be such a disconnect?

Additionally, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, released a resource map offering a snapshot of the city’s investment in workforce development over the course of one fiscal year.  The map details more than 30 programs and services across a dozen city agencies. It’s hard to imagine how someone could possibly navigate the system in the best of times, say nothing about the worst of times.

As we think about the worst of times and the state of our economy, the President rightly devoted a great deal of his speech to jobs.  And while he called for equal pay for women, the majority of the jobs-related portions of the speech focused on nontraditional jobs where women continue to be underrepresented and face numerous barriers to obtaining and retaining these jobs.  Isn’t it time that we give equal weight and value to ensuring women are paid equal wages for equal work?  Doesn’t that fundamentally fall into the economic fairness category?  Are we ok with telling our girls to work hard and get a good education only to be paid 77 cents on the dollar?

Calling on every state to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18 is a commendable goal set forth by the President.  There is no doubt about the importance of graduating high school and pursuing post-secondary education and training.  Our research demonstrates the drastic earnings differential based on educational attainment. Women in this region who do not have a high school diploma earn just over $18,000 per year compared to women with a graduate or professional degree who earn over $70,000.

But it’s not quite as cut and dry as simply saying that we’ll require everyone to graduate. Are we prepared to tackle the myriad of issues that cause youth, particularly girls, to drop out of school?  Generational poverty, family unemployment, violence, and teen pregnancy are just a few of the laundry list of issues that are at the crux of drop-out rates.

So how do we get there? Last night, the President reminded us that “no one built this country on their own. This nation is great because we worked as a team. This nation is great because we get each other’s backs.”  Well, there is no better time than now for our community to pull together to ensure that the Washington region is a model community where economically vulnerable women and girls have the resources to thrive.  Now is the time to work together toward innovative, multi-dimensional solutions that put women and girls on a path to prosperity.  Let’s break the disconnect.  Where would you start?

Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat is vice president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Photo credit: WhiteHouse.gov

Tags: obama, sotu, state of the union, economy, equal pay, women, girls, resources, poverty, education, work, jobs

– Ahead of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Women’s Foundation President Nicky Goren visits the MLK Memorial and reflects on what Dr. King would think about more than 200,000 women and girls living in poverty in the DC region.

– The Women’s Foundation is inviting supporters to join us and volunteer at A Wider Circle on MLK Day.  Click here for details.

– The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — has posted a list of their top five findings of 2011. Topics on the list include how women have fared during the economic recovery, the unmet child care needs of student parents and how much paid sick days would save taxpayers.

– East of the River Magazine explores the innovative work of AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School.  The article also takes a look at the impact a quality Pre-K education can have on the achievement gap.  AppleTree is a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner.

– “In the fight against poverty, it’s time for a revolution,” David Bornstein writes in a commentary on The New York Times website. Bornstein calls for re-defining poverty, restructuring how social services are handled, and focusing on collaborative, long-term solutions.

– Here’s your feel great story of the week: a 17-year-old Long Island high school student whose family had to move into a homeless shelter a year ago is a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search competition.  Samantha Garvey says she doesn’t have the best home life, but she hopes that she made her parents proud by being one of just 300 students nationwide to participate in the semifinals of the competition.  You can watch her story here:

Tags: women, girls, dc, poverty, homeless, education, intel, science, career, early care, children

At the briefing on women and the economy, we got a sobering look at how women have been impacted by the recession and recovery.  It shouldn’t be a surprise that administration officials say jobs will be the key to all of us – women and men – recovering successfully.

Dr. Judith Hellerstein of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers explained that working women have been concentrated in industries that fared better at the beginning of the recession.  Since the recovery began, however, industries where women are concentrated (e.g., the public sector) have not fared as well.  Dr. Hellerstein added that African American women and Latinas have faced the highest increase in unemployment rates and African American women continue to lose jobs drastically.

So what are the jobs that will help women get onto successful career pathways now and into the future?

“Women have to think green,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.  “Green is going to be the future.”

Secretary Solis said that 2.7 million jobs have already been created in the green sector.  She also said that more women need to be exploring careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Dr. Rebecca Blank from the U.S. Department of Congress told us that STEM jobs are growing faster than other sectors and pay 26% more; however women and people of color are enormously underrepresented in the field:

• 24% of STEM workers are women;
• 6% of STEM workers are black;
• 6% of STEM workers are Hispanic.

So why do fewer women enter a growing field that pays well?  Dr. Blank said that while women are more likely than men to go to college, they are much less likely to enter college prepared for STEM studies.  She suggested that positive attention focused on science and math for girls beginning at an early age would benefit them from elementary school into their careers.

“Girls can do science and math, have great fun doing it and contribute to the world!” Dr. Blank said.

There are many fantastic organizations right here in our community that are working to prepare girls and women for these types of careers.  The Campagna Center, for example, used a grant from Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Rainmakers Giving Circle to start a program that encourages students at T.C. Williams High School to explore STEM careers.  The Latinas Empowered to Achieve their Potential (LEAP) program helps students improve their leadership skills, learn more about topics like physics, and conduct their own experiments.

Goodwill of Greater Washington – another Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner – holds green construction classes for adults through the Green Pathway DC program.  The 10-week pre-apprenticeship program includes four weeks of green construction training and three weeks of weatherization, green advantage or smart meter installation.

“We’ve seen an increase in women coming through the program.  There was a time when there weren’t any women and now we’re seeing three or four,” Latoria Strickland told me last year.  Latoria is a senior career trainer with Green Pathway DC.

Our Grantee Partner Year Up also takes a hands-on approach, training young people for internships and jobs in Information/Technology.  In addition to practical lessons in IT, Year Up helps young people think about career pathways.

“My internship phase allowed me to meet with the head of my company and collaborate with them,” said Kimberly Holloway, a recent graduate who now works for a cyber intelligence company.  “It really opened up a lot of opportunities for me financial-wise and professionally.”

Programs like these are setting up women and their families to have brighter futures.  By providing women and girls with the resources that will enable them to enter career pathways with stability, benefits and family-sustaining pay, we’re making investments in the economic well-being of our entire community.

Dr. Adriana Kugler, chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor summed it up best: “By helping women, we’re helping the entire country.”

Tags: women, girls, employment, unemployment, careers, jobs, it, stem, green, construction, white house, security

– The new supplemental poverty measure released by the U.S. Census Bureau earlier this week finds that Latinos are the poorest group of Americans, according to DCentric. The new measure puts the nationwide Latino poverty rate at 28 percent.  The official measurement finds that African Americans have the highest poverty rate in the country.

– The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is on the rise, reports the Virginia Farm Bureau.  This year, feeding a group of 10 adults turkey, side dishes and dessert will cost $48.03.  That’s nearly $5 more than last year, reports WAMU.

– A free health education text messaging service aimed at medically under-served women is reaching a number of goals, according to the White House Council on Women and Girls’ blog. Text4Baby sends three text messages per week to subscribers with information on doctor’s visits, immunization and Medicaid.

– Cable companies around the country will begin offering discounted services to families with an annual income of $29,055 or less, reports DCentric. Cutting costs will make having the internet more affordable to low income residents.

Tags: women, girls, maternal, health, low, income, cable, poverty, latino, african, american

Since its release, The Women’s Foundation staff has been combing through the 87 page report, looking at the local impact, particularly on women-headed families.

“The big takeaway is that the number of female-headed households with related children under 18 living in poverty rose to 40.7 percent,” says Gwen Rubinstein, program officer at The Women’s Foundation.  “That’s compared to an 8.8 percent poverty rate for married-couple households.”

The median income for women-headed families decreased by 3.3 percent, from $33,135 to $32,031.

Rubinstein also notes that:

• 19.9% of DC residents were living in poverty in 2010, compared to 17.9% in 2009;
• DC has the third-highest poverty rate in the nation (behind Mississippi at 22.7% and Louisiana at 21.6%);
• the poverty rate in Maryland rose from 9.6% in 2009 to 10.8% in 2010;
• the poverty rate in Virginia did not change;
• median income has stagnated across our region;
• and, the percentage of Virginia residents without health insurance rose from 12.6% in 2009 to 14.1% in 2010.

Washington Area Women’s Foundation will be working with Grantee Partner The Urban Institute to continue to review and interpret data from the new report and provide updates on the ways in which these statistics impact our community and what they mean for our work.  Stay tuned for more… and to review the report yourself, please click here.