Workplace discrimination Most U.S. workers are women, but their needs are still ignored

Workplace discrimination In this election cycle, candidates must do more to speak to policies that affect women’s economic security and well-being

My first job at the age of 12 was selling newspapers door to door in my neighborhood. By 16, I was working in a food court, and by 20, I had landed my first professional job at a local nonprofit organization. I have participated in the workforce and earned a steady paycheck for nearly my entire life. I worked out of necessity and for survival, which is true for many women in the workforce.   

Recent data released from the Department of Labor show that for the first time in 10 years, women make up more than half (50.04%) of the workforce. Many have celebrated this milestone as proof that women are inching toward equality in the workplace. After all, a hallmark of women’s equality in America has always been increased labor force participation.  

For women in today’s economy, however, increased employment also carries an increased burden. Women earn less, have less flexibility in terms of their work schedules to meet caretaking demands, and are more likely to experience discrimination based on gender or sexual harassment than their male counterparts in the workforce.  

In this election cycle, candidates must do more to speak to policies that improve women’s economic security and well-being.  

Across the board, women earn less than men in nearly every occupation for which there is available data. If we do nothing, women will not reach economic parity with men until 2059. For women of color, it will take more than a century: 2130 for black women and 2224 for Hispanic women. This means women will have to work longer or hold multiple jobs to make ends meet and to care for their families.  

Workplace discrimination Women carry more burdens at home

Increased employment among women has not translated into less work at home. Many women in the workforce are still primarily responsible for the lion’s share of housework and caretaking responsibilities compared with men.  

A new study by Oxfam America-Institute for Women’s Policy Research finds that women in the United States spend 37% more time on household and care work than their male counterparts, limiting career choices and economic mobility, and affecting their overall health and well-being. Black and Hispanic women spend nearly twice as much time on unpaid housework and caretaking demands as their male counterparts.  

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Much has been made about our strong economy as measured by how well the stock market performs and low unemployment. There’s no doubt the increase in workforce participation among women will help bolster this narrative. However, it does not mean that women are more economically secure. 

For many families, and especially for women, a strong economy is not about how well the stock market performs, the number of jobs added to the economy each month or the record low unemployment rate. It’s about whether they can pay their bills, put food on the table and have some semblance of work-life balance.  

In today’s economy, working and middle-class families continue to struggle with rising housing and health care costs, stagnant wages and a shift to a technology-driven economy fueled by automation and the loss of manufacturing jobs. These trends have a disproportionate impact on women.  

Workplace discrimination Economy doesn’t work for everyone

In economic upturns and times of strength, prosperity is usually shared. This has not happened in this administration. Gains have been funneled back into the pockets of those who have the most.

According to the Census Bureau, income inequality is the highest it has ever been since it began tracking it more than five decades ago. And although the nation’s median household income topped $63,000 for the first time in 2018, after adjusting for inflation, it’s roughly the same as it was 20 years ago.

In short, not everyone is doing well, particularly women and lower-wage workers.  

In a strong economy, we should be investing in programs and policies that will raise wages, create economic stability and certainty ease the load for working and middle-class families. These policies include: requiring paid sick and family medical leave, doing more to close the gender wage gap, raising the minimum wage and lowering health care costs. For working women, affordable high-quality child care is a priority that hasn’t gotten much traction in election year policy debates.  

If we do more to accelerate closing the wage gap, we can cut poverty in half for working women in every state. Providing paid sick and family medical leave for a larger number of workers means people won’t lose their jobs or income if they are sick or have to care for a child or family member who is ill.  

Related to health care, whether it is “Medicare for All,” Obamacare or a plan that is able to accommodate private insurance, families cannot continue to absorb the out-of-control costs associated with a broken health system. 

Platitudes, promises and grandiose plans won’t cut it this election cycle. Both parties have to do more to convince voters, especially women, they can deliver an economy that benefits all, and not just the few at the top.  

C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., is president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

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