Women's Take - The NWLC Blog

NWLC's Weekly Roundup: May 21 - 25

pfurey — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:15:01 +0000

Posted by:

Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate

I’m sure you’re all anxious to get your Memorial Day weekend started, so this week we just have a few quick hits for you. Read on for stories on the latest product from Ruffles potato chips, “pink collar” jobs, and some dialogue about freedom of speech and pro-choice activism.

The Shaheen Amendment Passes in Committee!

pfurey — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:30:19 +0000

Posted by:

Leila Abolfazli, Counsel

How fitting. How fitting it is that just days before Memorial Day weekend, when we honor our fallen troops, the Senate Armed Services Committee takes a very big step in respecting and acknowledging the women who currently serve to protect our country.

In case you haven't heard already, the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday finished its mark-up of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013. During the mark-up, the Committee voted on whether to include an amendment offered by Senator Shaheen that would repeal the ban on coverage for abortion for survivors of rape or incest in the military.

I know I am usually the "Debbie Downer" for repro rights news, but today, I have the great news to report that the Amendment PASSED!! For the first time in a very long, we are VERY CLOSE to bringing the health insurance coverage for military women in line with the coverage other federal health insurance programs currently provide.

Now, you may stop to wonder, um, why is this the policy anyways — why are military women denied such coverage? Why are they denied such coverage when civilian federal employees even have access to this admittedly-pitiful level of coverage? Great question.

CEO Pay Keeps Going Up, But What About the Minimum Wage?

pfurey — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:45:31 +0000

Posted by:

Anna McClure, Fellow

Posted by:

Julie Vogtman, Senior Counsel

Today brings news that CEO pay went up last year by 6 percent, bringing the average salary to $9.6 million per year for the head of a public company. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage remains stuck at $7.25 per hour — just $14,500 for a year of full-time, minimum wage work. As our recent infographic makes clear, with women underrepresented at the top and overrepresented at the bottom of the income scale, increasing the minimum wage is critical to women:

Minimum Wage Increase Advances in New Jersey

pfurey — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:00:55 +0000

Posted by:

Julie Vogtman, Senior Counsel

I have to admit, I’m feeling pretty good today — I’m just hours away from starting a long holiday weekend, and I get to report more happy news on the minimum wage! Today’s update comes from New Jersey, where the General Assembly just passed a bill (A-2162) that would raise the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 per hour and index the wage to keep pace with inflation. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates that over half a million workers — the majority of them women — will get a raise if A-2162 is enacted.

That raise is sorely needed: full-time minimum wage earnings of $14,500 a year leave a mom with two children thousands of dollars below the federal poverty line in a state with one of the highest costs of living in the country. Raising New Jersey’s minimum wage to $8.50 per hour would mean an extra $2,500 per year, which could make a real difference for women and families struggling to make ends meet. And indexing the wage for inflation would help ensure that the buying power of the minimum wage does not erode as it has over the past decades; indeed, if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since the 1960s, it would be more than $10.50 per hour today.

Low-wage workers and their families are not the only ones who would benefit from a minimum wage increase – New Jersey’s economy would get a boost, too. More money in workers’ pockets means more dollars flowing into local businesses, and that means more jobs: according to EPI, raising the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour would generate over $277 million in economic activity in New Jersey, creating close to 2,500 jobs.

Paycheck Fairness Act Press Conference Calls for Wage Justice

pfurey — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:15:23 +0000

Posted by:

Samantha Lint, Outreach Intern

Yesterday's afternoon press conference at the Senate called for bi-partisan support of the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), a bill designed to close loopholes that perpetuate wage discrimination. While any worker regardless of gender would benefit from this bill, PFA would be a significant step toward equal pay for women. As lead sponsor Senator Mikulski (D-MD) explained at the press conference, PFA is the next step after the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to closing the wage gap for women. While Ledbetter is an essential remedy to help people who find out that they are being discriminated against seek justice, PFA, Mikulski stated, "Closes loopholes that allow pay discrimination in the first place."

PFA would improve remedies for pay discrimination, prohibit employer retaliation, and facilitate class action suits in equal pay claims.

Pretty simple logic, it'd be tough to learn about wage discrimination if discussing wages can be grounds for termination.

The PFA is making its second recent appearance in Congress, after the Senate failed to move it forward last year but two votes.

Fatima Goss Graves, NWLC Vice President for Education and Employment, spoke at the conference in support of PFA and explained how PFA remedies current loopholes and constraints in equal pay law.

New York Residents: Keep Up the Momentum on Minimum Wage

pfurey — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:12:18 +0000

Posted by:

Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security

There's good news and bad news for women and families in New York this week.

The good news: The State Assembly recently voted to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 per hour and tie it to the rising cost of living. That would mean an extra $2,500 each year for minimum wage workers in New York, nearly two-thirds of whom are women.

The bad news: To keep up the momentum on this critical issue, we need strong leadership from Governor Cuomo and the state Senate — or the bill is likely to stall.

More good news: You can help. Tell Governor Cuomo to fight for a strong minimum wage increase and tell your state Senator to pass the minimum wage bill, A. 9148. They need to hear from you!

NWLC in the News: May 16 – 22

djackson — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:35:56 +0000

Posted by:

Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate

Check out these mentions of NWLC in the news over the past week!

May 17

New Jersey Residents: Take Action to Give New Jersey Women a Raise!

djackson — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:24:09 +0000

Posted by:

Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security

You could help get hundreds of thousands of working New Jersey women a much-needed raise. More than half of the workers earning the state minimum wage of just $7.25 an hour are women. Many of these women struggle to support families on just $14,500 for a year of full-time work — thousands of dollars below the poverty line for a mom with two kids.

This Thursday, May 24 a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour and tie it to the rising cost of living will be before the General Assembly.

Take action: click here to look up your Assemblymember's phone number. Then, call and ask him or her to vote YES on A-2162! Be sure to click on the "New Jersey" tab to find your STATE Representative (Assemblymember).

When connected, please tell your Assemblymember's office:

Your name, where you are from, and that you are a constituent.

Please tell _____________ that I strongly urge him/her to give hardworking New Jerseyans a raise by voting YES on A-2162. Thank you.

This bill would mean an extra $2,500 each year for many New Jersey women and their families.

The DC Abortion Ban: A Cruel Ban for an Unfairly Unrepresented Population

djackson — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:29:10 +0000

Posted by:

Leila Abolfazli, Counsel

“It is unconscionable that someone would come into my city from the outside and try to impose a law that doesn’t represent the best interests of anyone, especially families like mine. This proposed law is downright cruel, as it would inflict pain on the families, the women, and the babies it purports to protect.” –Christy Zink

It’s round three in the Judiciary Committee. Last Thursday, Trent Franks (R-AZ) held yet another hearing on yet another bill that is aimed at denying women access to a constitutional right. This time the bill in discussion, the D.C. Abortion Ban (H.R. 3803), seeks to impose a ban on almost all abortions 20 weeks post-fertilization. The only exception to the ban is to save the life of the mother, and even that exception is restricted to when the mother faces physical life-threatening problems (being suicidal is apparently not life-threatening…). It is unconstitutional because it bans abortions pre-viability and fails to include any exception for health.

Oh, and did I mention that the bill only affects D.C. (a population who has no voting representative in Congress)?

The hearing began with a brief tangling over whether the only popularly-elected official for DC would get to testify on a bill that only affects DC. After the kerfuffle ended (with Rep. Franks again refusing to allow Rep. Norton Holmes to testify), the four witnesses gave their testimony.

Time to Jam the Phones!

djackson — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:58:40 +0000

Posted by:

Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment

It's go time!

The Vote is Coming — Call Today!

We need your help to call on the Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Dial 1-888-876-9527 Today!

For the next 48 hours, the National Women's Law Center and organizations across the country are joining forces to turn up the heat on the Senate in support of equal pay. You can help: call 1-888-876-9527 today!

What's the rush?

We expect a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act in the coming weeks and we need to make sure our Senators hear from us now. For the next 48 hours we want to jam the phones to send a clear message of support for the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Can you take two minutes of your time to call your Senators in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act?

We will make it super-easy. This is all it takes:

Dial 1-888-876-9527.
Listen to the sample script and follow the instructions for connecting to your Senator's office.
Don't neglect your other Senator. Call back and make sure he/she gets a call, too!
Double your impact by forwarding this message to a friend.

If you haven't already heard...

The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by updating the nearly 50-year-old Equal Pay Act, in part by barring retaliation against workers who disclose their own wages to coworkers.

Paul Watford Confirmed to Ninth Circuit

djackson — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:24:54 +0000

Posted by:

Amy K. Matsui, Senior Counsel

Paul Watford, nominated to an emergency vacancy on the Ninth Circuit, was the first nominee voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this year. After almost five months, a cloture vote on his nomination had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon. Prior to the scheduled vote, however, Senate Majority Leader Reid moved to have a yes-or-no confirmation vote instead, and there was no objection. So Mr. Watford was confirmed by a vote of 61-34.

Now-Judge Watford’s confirmation is excellent news, although it’s disappointing that it’s news that was almost five months in the making.

NWLC’s Weekly Roundup: May 14 – 18

djackson — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:09:38 +0000

Posted by:

Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate

Up ahead in this edition of NWLC’s weekly roundup: a couple international stories along with a look at “best intentions” laws and how they can hurt pregnant women here in America.

First of all, can we take a moment to talk about Valérie Trierweiler, the new first lady of France? She’s already unwittingly endeared herself to some American women – here are just a few of the reasons why:

Ms. Trierweiler is one-half of France’s first unmarried presidential couple. Her partner – and newly sworn in French president to boot – is François Hollande.

She has no plans to quit working. Instead, she’ll continue her work as a political journalist.

Trierweiler is a working mother – she has three teenage sons, and like many working mothers she’s concerned about balancing her career and her family. “I’ve shared the fate of many working mothers, I felt guilty like them,” Trierweiler once said.

And the kicker – here’s another quote of hers: “I haven’t been raised to serve a husband. I built my entire life on the idea of independence.”

Of course, it’d be awesome if France’s new president (or any country’s for that matter) were a woman, so that we could celebrate her achievement and not just her status as wife or partner to the male president. But I still think Trierweiler sounds like she’ll be a breath of fresh air in her role as the partner to a head of state.

Put Your Lipstick On

djackson — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:21:24 +0000

Posted by:

Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment

Contact Your Senators Today!

Tell your Senators to show their support for equal pay by co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act.

"Ladies, put your lipstick on, square your shoulders, and get ready to do battle. This calls for a revolution!"

That's what Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said on the floor of the Senate during the successful fight to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. And now she needs our help for the next battle over equal pay — passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.

In the coming weeks, we expect a Senate vote on this vital legislation so we need you to contact your Senators today.

Please tell your Senators to show their support for equal pay by co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by updating the nearly 50-year-old Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their own wages to coworkers.

More Good News on the Minimum Wage: Bill Passes Illinois Senate Committee

djackson — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:34:56 +0000

Posted by:

Julie Vogtman, Senior Counsel

Earlier this week, I reported that the New York Assembly passed a bill to raise the state minimum wage but Illinois postponed a Senate Executive Committee vote on a minimum wage bill. Today, I’m happy to report that I was misinformed about Illinois: the Senate Executive Committee voted on – and passed – a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $8.25 per hour to its historic high, estimated to be at least $10.65 per hour by 2014, then index the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation. The bill would also eliminate the tipped minimum cash wage of $4.95 per hour, making tipped employees entitled to the same minimum wage as other workers.

Once again, this is great news for women, who are nearly six in ten minimum wage workers in Illinois. For a mom working full time to support two kids on the minimum wage, a raise to $10.65 per hour would mean an extra $4,800 per year – enough to lift her family out of poverty. Base earnings for tipped workers who make the current minimum cash wage of $4.95 per hour would more than double. Nationally, nearly two-thirds of workers in tipped occupations are women.

A minimum wage increase would also be great news for the Illinois economy. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that raising Illinois’ minimum wage to $10.65 over four years would generate about $2.5 billion in additional economic activity and around 20,000 new jobs. More than one million Illinois workers would get a raise – 56 percent of them women.

Protecting Our Hearts, With No Cost Sharing

djackson — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:38:08 +0000

Posted by:

Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor

I couldn’t remember the last time I had my cholesterol screened.

That probably isn’t a good thing given that there is a history of heart disease in my family. But I kept coming up with excuses not to get tested – I already have a lot of doctor appointments - I don’t have a primary care provider - I eat healthy - I’m too young to worry about cholesterol.

Then the health care law was passed and, after a few months, all new health plans had to provide certain preventive services with no cost sharing.

Eliminating the small copay for my preventive visit may not have been much, but it meant one less hurdle. I also started thinking about why these services are required to be provided with no cost sharing. Preventive services are important.

Wall St. Journal: Unemployment Rate without Government Cuts – 7.1 Percent Instead of 8.1 Percent

djackson — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:02:29 +0000

Posted by:

Abby Lane, Fellow

Justin Lahart from the Wall Street Journal recently pointed out the impact of the public sector job cuts on the unemployment rate. Guess what? It’s bad. Really bad.

Lahart wrote, “The unemployment rate would be far lower if it hadn’t been for those cuts: If there were as many people working in government as there were in December 2008, the unemployment rate in April would have been 7.1%, not 8.1%.”

An unemployment rate of 7.1 percent! Unemployment hasn’t been that low in nearly three and a half years.

Let’s take a look at his chart:

Minimum Wage Bill Advances in New York

djackson — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:11:57 +0000

Posted by:

Julie Vogtman, Senior Counsel

Good news from New York on the minimum wage: the state Assembly passed a bill yesterday that would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 per hour next year and index it to keep pace with inflation. The bill would also raise the minimum cash wage for food service workers (a particularly large segment of tipped workers) from $5.00 to $5.86 per hour and index it for inflation.

This is particularly good news for women, who make up close to two thirds of minimum wage workers in New York. A mom with two kids working full time at $7.25 per hour makes just $14,500 per year, leaving her family thousands of dollars below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour would provide a meaningful boost of $2,500 each year. And raising the tipped minimum wage for food service workers – like restaurant servers, who are mostly women – to $5.86 per hour would increase their earnings by more than $1,700 per year. Moreover, because women are the majority of minimum wage workers in New York, increasing the minimum wage could help to close the gap between men’s and women’s typical earnings in the state.

But the bill still needs to pass the Senate before it can get to Governor Andrew Cuomo (who has said he supports a minimum wage increase “in principle”). And unfortunately, a number of senators have expressed opposition to the minimum wage bill, trotting out false and tired arguments that an increase would “kill jobs.”

NWLC in the News: May 9 – 15

djackson — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:37:56 +0000

Posted by:

Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate

Check out these mentions of NWLC in the news over the past week!

May 9

Girls flag football grabs attention as growing sport, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

May 10

An Economy that Gives Mothers a Choice, Tri-States Public Radio

May 11

I’m pregnant. Can my health plan refuse maternity coverage?, Consumer Reports
The True Economic Value of Women, Fast Company

They Forgot Who They're Talking To

djackson — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:09:56 +0000

Posted by:

Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights

This week is National Women's Health Week — a time for women to remind ourselves to put our health first. Some politicians are determined to put women's health first, too — first on the chopping block.

Opponents of the health care law are dead-set on finding ways to undermine it. And, if they win, our health will be undermined, too. Watch our new video! Then, share it with your friends, family, and co-workers and ask them to join the fight to protect the law.

For generations, women have overcome obstacles, exceeded expectations and fought for equality.

Who Needs Facts? We Do, Whatever the House GOP Leadership Thinks.

djackson — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:34:43 +0000

Posted by:

Abby Lane, Fellow

Posted by:

Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst

Did you know…

These facts aren’t trivia; they have important implications for public debate and public policy. And they all come from the American Community Survey (ACS) a dataset that almost all House Republicans and a handful of House Democrats voted to eliminate last week.

The ACS is invaluable to researchers, businesses, non-profits and the government. The ACS is the only source of annual data on the social, economic, and demographic characteristics of our country down to the neighborhood level.

The arguments to eliminate the ACS are tenuous at best. Some policy makers, like Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL), have stated that the survey is a violation of privacy. This is simply ludicrous – the Census Bureau takes extreme caution to make sure that all survey results are confidential. No one’s responses are identifiable – from looking at the public data, it is impossible to tell who answered a survey question a specific way.