Economy Hitting Women Hardest, Say Experts

[ensho]

http://us.oneworld.net/article/358642-economy-hitting-women-hardest-say-experts


Women are being disproportionately affected by the U.S. mortgage crisis and economic plunge, said a panel of women leaders Wednesday, urging a strong woman-focused response from the federal government.

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Mersha spoke along with other women's rights advocates at a teleconference sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women called, "Lifted Up or Left Out? Economic Stimulus Policy that Benefits Low-Income Women." The experts discussed the challenges facing women in the United States today and policies that could make a difference.

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The effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on women are exacerbated by other, pre-existing problems, according to the panelists. Sara Gould, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation, said that out of the 37 million Americans living in poverty, 27 million are women and children. In fact, she added, single mothers and their families are more likely to live in poverty than any other demographic group in the United States.

Panelists agreed that there is not an adequate support system to help these women living in poverty. Fully two thirds of the minimum wage and below-minimum wage workforce in the United States are women, said Gould. For many of these workers, the laws are inadequate to protect their rights.
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but the men in D.C. say they love us!


sharpen those prodding sticks women, we've got some men to prod.


there are more women in the US then men.

[zazen]

1. wonder if more women hold flex-time/consulting type and pt jobs, which are less protected

I guess this is only a middle class phenom/privilege, but that's certainly true for my situation. I'm divorced now and still have been working as a consultant until it all dried this Fall, for the first time in 15 years!, but my arrangement with my husband was he would hold the regular job and mine would be the one with flexible hours. It often meant 80-100 hrs a week (when I had bad deadlines), but it meant I was available to girls when they weren't in school.

I've found this is a common arrangement with the "former professional class" around the Triangle, though sometimes you'd see the Dad with the consulting career and the Mom with the benefits. But one person has to have flex time to avoid handing their kids over to strangers from 7 AM to 7 PM five days a week.

[Triana]

2. It always does hit women first, and hardest.

And there ARE more women in the US than men. I used to tell my ex that - and he'd furiously deny it as "urban myth" - but then he said that about unequal pay, and other issues too.

This guy was one of those misogynist "liberals". He called himself a "progressive/liberal" -- but what he was when it came to women - was a caveman.

There's some in every bunch. :P