Caregiving

Compared to men, women spend a disproportionate amount of time attending to the needs of children and adults under their care.. Because of caregiving demands, more than half of employed women caregivers have made special workplace arrangements, such as arriving late, leaving early or working fewer hours. Women represent 61 percent of all caregivers and 75 percent of caregivers who report feeling very strained emotionally, physically or financially by such responsibilities. Minor-aged women and girls also shoulder caregiving duties, usually unrecognized and uncompensated. Affordable, accessible, quality child care and elder care, as well as greater delegation of responsibilities to spouses and partners, are required to offset the overwhelming care loads within families and communities.

Housing Resources and Programs for Single Student Parents at Community and Technical Colleges

Submitted by asklar on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 10:19am

Parents with dependent children now make up almost one in four students pursuing higher education in the United States (Miller, Gault and Thorman 2011). Single parents face particular challenges pursuing higher education, including securing safe and affordable housing. Single mothers often must spend over half of their income on housing expenses, leaving them with less money for educational expenses and vulnerable to housing crises that can easily derail their pursuit of a degree (Bush 2010). An analysis of effective strategies to support single student parents identifies affordable housing as one of the most important factors to ensuring student success (Women Employed 2011).

URL:

http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/housing-resources-and-programs-for-single-student-parents-at-community-and-technical-colleges

Member Organization:

Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Breast-feeding hurts moms' earnings, study finds

Teaser:

Breast-feeding comes with an often-overlooked cost to new mothers, according to a new study by Phyllis L.F. Rippeyoung, an assistant professor at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and published in the American Sociological Review.

Editorial:

From MSNBC:

Breast-feeding comes with a cost to new moms that is often overlooked, according to a new study published in the American Sociological Review. The study looked at data from 1,313 first-time mothers in the U.S. who were in their late 20s or 30s when they gave birth.

Women’s incomes dropped precipitously when they choose to breast-feed for six months or longer -- and they remained low some five years after the babies were born, says the study’s lead author, Phyllis L.F. Rippeyoung, an assistant professor of sociology and coordinator of women’s and gender studies at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Rippeyoung’s interest in the hidden costs of breast-feeding was sparked by personal experience. When she became a mom, she was flooded with information about the benefits of breast-feeding -- including the suggestion that it would save her money.

“I thought that it was weird that they were saying it was free,” Rippeyoung remembers. “I was a grad student at the time driving back and forth between teaching and classes, and my milk was drying up since I couldn’t drive and pump at the same time. It was a very difficult thing, but I had to stop breast-feeding. If I’d continued I couldn’t have worked at the same time.”

The data for the new study came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which included information about the moms’ jobs and incomes, as well as stats on their family life, including the decision to give their babies formula or to breast-feed for a short duration (less than six months) or a long duration (six months or more).

[...]

Source:

MSNBC

URL:

http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/27/11415639-breast-feeding-hurts-moms-earnings-study-finds?lite?ocid=twitter

Date:

April 30, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Monthly State Update: Major Developments in 2012

Submitted by asklar on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 11:04am

This monthly update provides information on legislation, as well as relevant executive branch actions and judicial decisions in states across the country. For each of the topics, the number of states in which legislation has been introduced is given, as are the names of the states in which subsequent action has been taken. Detailed summaries are provided for legislation that has been passed by at least one house of a legislature and for major court decisions; actions for the current month are in bold.

Abortion
Adolescents
Contraception & Prevention
Pregnancy & Birth
Refusal Clauses
Reproductive Health and Environmental Hazards

URL:

http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/updates/index.html

Unintended Pregnancy: Incidence and Outcomes Among Young Adult Unmarried Women in the United States, 2001 and 2008

Submitted by asklar on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 10:56am

More than two-thirds of pregnancies among unmarried women aged 20–29 were unintended in 2008, according to "Unintended Pregnancy: Incidence and Outcomes Among Young Adult Unmarried Women in the United States, 2001 and 2008," by Mia Zolna and Laura Duberstein Lindberg of the Guttmacher Institute. By comparison, only half of pregnancies among all women of reproductive age were unintended. In 2008, nearly 10% of unmarried women aged 20-29 (95 per 1,000) experienced an unintended pregnancy.

URL:

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/unintended-pregnancy-US-2001-2008.pdf

The Real Face of Stay-At-Home Mothers: Those Who Have No Other Financial Option

Teaser:

Bryce Covert looks at 2010 Census data, which shows that stay-at-home mothers are more likely to be younger, Hispanic, and less education--and most likely "choose" to be stay-at-home mothers out of economic necessity in the face of childcare costs.

Editorial:

From Forbes:

A study in 2010 conducted by the Census, looking at its own data on stay-at-home mothers, showed that as compared to the make-up in 1979, today’s moms in the home are younger, less educated, and much more likely to be Hispanic – and in particular, foreign born. The report states, “on average stay-at-home mothers do not have higher levels of educational attainment compared with their counterparts.” In fact, 18 percent lack a high school degree, compared to just 7 percent of women in the workforce. They are also younger: women under 35 are more likely to be stay-at-home mothers now than they were in 1969.

The statistics on race paint a clear picture that the face of stay-at-home motherhood is more and more likely to be Hispanic. In 1969, 94 percent of stay-at-home mothers were white. That figure dropped nine percentage points between then and 2009. Meanwhile, the number of Hispanic stay-at-home mothers shot up. In 1979, a mere seven percent of stay-at-home mothers were Hispanic, but that increased to 27 percent in 2009. That’s a difference of about 11 percent between stay-at-home mothers and other mothers. These women also tend to be foreign born: 23 percent of stay-at-home mothers are from another country, as compared to 11 percent of other mothers.

Why would Hispanic women born in other countries stay out of the workforce? One of the major factors, the Census study says, may be that with less education and potentially more limited job skills, it may be a practical consideration. Because it can mean that they are unable to get higher paying jobs, which leads them to fall behind financially. According to an analysis run by the New York Times, those households have a median income of $64,000, over $10,000 less than those in which women are in the workforce.

This is a very different picture than the white, ultra-wealthy Ann Romney, and also possibly different than the mothers pictured in P&G’s ad. Why? Because given all of these considerations, it’s likely that the women staying home aren’t doing so because of a choice so much as a financial consideration.

Childcare is anything by cheap in this country. The National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies reports that the average annual cost of putting an infant in full-time care can hit $18,200 on the high-end, and the cost for a four-year-old can be as much as $14,050. For a household making that median $64,000, that figure can eat up almost 30 percent of its income. Subsidies are meant to help families plug that hole and get to work, but we’ve recently been pulling back on that support. TheNational Women’s Law Center has reported that 37 states have made getting help paying for childcare more difficult through putting people on waiting lists, requiring higher copayments, lower reimbursements for childcare providers, and making eligibility even more stringent. The result will be far fewer families who can pay for childcare.

[...]

Source:

Forbes

URL:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brycecovert/2012/04/19/the-real-face-of-stay-at-home-mothers-those-who-have-no-other-financial-option/

Date:

April 20, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Vatican nun crackdown hits US group for 'radical feminist' ideas

Teaser:

A report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, accuses the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest umbrella group for nuns in the United States, of taking positions that undermine Roman Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith."

Editorial:

From The Christian Science Monitor:

An American archbishop was appointed to oversee reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which will include rewriting the group's statutes, reviewing all its plans and programs -- including approving speakers -- and ensuring the organization properly follows Catholic prayer and ritual.

The Leadership Conference, based in Silver Spring, Md,, represents about 57,000 religious sisters and offers programs ranging from leadership training for women's religious orders to advocacy on social justice issues. Representatives of the Leadership Conference did not respond to requests for comment.

The report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the organization faced a "grave" doctrinal crisis, in which issues of "crucial importance" to the church, such as abortion and euthanasia, have been ignored. Vatican officials also castigated the group for making some public statements that "disagree with or challenge positions taken by the bishops," who are the church's authentic teachers of faith and morals."

Church officials did not cite a specific example of those public statements, but said the reform would include a review of ties between the Leadership Conference and NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby. NETWORK played a key role in supporting the Obama administration's health care overhaul despite the bishops' objections that the bill would provide government funding for abortion. The Leadership Conference disagreed with the bishops' analysis of the law and also supported President Barack Obama's plan.

[...]

Source:

The Christian Science Monitor

URL:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0419/Vatican-nun-crackdown-hits-US-group-for-radical-feminist-ideas

Date:

April 19, 2012

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CNN Poll: Support for working women almost unanimous

Teaser:

A new CNN/ORC International poll shows that most Americans now think the number of women in the workplace is a good thing for children of working mothers, which is a significant change from attitudes on that topic in the 1980s and 1990s.

Editorial:

From CNN:

The CNN/ORC International poll also indicated that nearly nine in ten Americans approve of mothers of young children working outside the home, even if their husbands can support their families. Six in ten women, including six in ten mothers of children under the age of 18, said they would prefer to have a job outside the home.

Full results (pdf)

[...]

Source:

CNN

URL:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/16/poll-support-for-working-women-almost-unanimous/

Date:

April 18, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

How to Close the Gender Wage Gap in Just Seven Easy* Steps

Teaser:

Bryce Covert outlines 7 cultural and legislative changes that could end the gender wage gap.

Editorial:

From The Nation:

Congrats, ladies! By today you’ve earned the same as men did in 2011. That gap means that the typical woman working full-time, year round, makes about seventy-seven cents for every dollar a typical man does, and those missing twenty-three cents can really add up. In a year a woman loses $10,784 to a man—enough to buy about 2,700 gallons of gas. It can add up to a loss of $431,000 in pay for the typical woman over a forty-year career. No small chunk of pocket change.

This issue hasn’t gone unnoticed. The first thing President Obama did after settling into the West Wing was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, which expanded the statute of limitations on lawsuits over equal pay. Yet Ledbetter did little to actually change the gap: it stood at seventy-seven cents when the bill was passed at 2009, where it stands today.

But this high holiday of gender inequality is not the day to get dragged down in pessimism! After all, it can’t be totally out of reach to change this thing that’s barely budged in fifty years, amiright? In the spirit of moving forward and focusing on real solutions, here are some quick steps we can all take to make the gap disappear:

[...]

Source:

The Nation

URL:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/167423/how-close-gender-wage-gap-just-seven-easy-steps

Date:

April 18, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Pay Equity and Single Mothers of Color

Teaser:

Recent Census data indicates that women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men--but for women of color, that wage gap is even higher.

Editorial:

From the Center for American Progress:

Although social and political efforts have been made to close the wage gap and in turn the wealth gap, recent Census data still indicates that women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. For women of color the gap is even wider: Black women earn 69.5 percent, and Hispanic women 60.5 percent, compared to the earnings of their white male counterparts.

The wage story is just as unequal for single mothers: They make less than men, less than married women, and less than women without children. Adding race to the equation, single mothers of color are hit hardest by the wage gap. Studies show that single mothers of color are much more likely to live in poverty and face significant barriers to creating wealth. Lower wages can often prevent families from engaging in asset- and wealth-building mechanisms such as pension plans because of fewer job benefits and resources. Lower earnings can hinder families from investing and saving their money, a key strategy for building wealth. Additionally, wealth not only impacts economic security but long-term retirement security as well.

While it’s recognized that the racial wealth gap is widespread there is a critical need to understand the intersection of race and gender in accumulating wealth.

[...]

Source:

Center for American Progress

URL:

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/04/pay_equity_color.html

Date:

April 17, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

More Than a Date: The Connection Between Tax Day and Equal Pay Day

Teaser:

Kristin Maschka argues that there's a relationship between United States tax code and the pay gap.

Editorial:

From the Huffington Post:

Today, the biggest wage gap is between mothers and everyone else. Employed mothers earn just 73 percent what men earn. Even less if they are single or minority.

Even that 73 percent number is too rosy, because it only looks at a snapshot of mothers and men employed in a given year.

But mothers also spend more years out of the workforce than anyone else, usually to care for family. So the financial impact of mothers' employment patterns becomes clear only when we look across the years. The lifetime earnings of women are just 38 percent of the lifetime earnings of men.

Now that's a gap.

One of the reasons more women drop out of the workforce is because United States income tax policy is designed specifically to encourage them to drop out.

Yes, you read that right.

[...]

Source:

Huffington Post

URL:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-maschka/equal-pay-day_b_1427171.html

Date:

April 17, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

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What We Do

NCRW is a network of leading university and community based research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing global reach dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls. We also have a Corporate Circle comprised of senior diversity professionals from leading U.S. and global member companies and a Presidents Circle of college and university leaders who share our commitment. NCRW harnesses the collective power of its network to provide knowledge, analysis, and thought leadership on issues ranging from reducing women’s poverty to building a critical mass of women’s leadership across sectors.

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