A new national survey carried out by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) has revealed exactly which ‘top’ priorities and policies American women want the new Biden administration and Congress to focus on.
They include affordable high-quality healthcare, getting the economic recession under control, job creation, dealing with racial injustice and inequality, and raising the minimum wage. The top priorities for women are highly influenced by their experience during the pandemic, the economic downturn, and their inability to make ends meet or find work, confirmed the study.
Women have been most affected by the Covid-fuelled economic downturn. Employed in the hardest-hit sectors – education, hospitality and leisure, healthcare, and service – more than 11 million women have lost their jobs; and another 2.65 million have left the workforce since February due to care taking demands or an inability to find work. In fact, the survey found that since the start of the pandemic, 50.4% of women stopped working or reduced their hours because of care-taking demands.
DEALING WITH FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
According to the survey, one in four women (26.6%) report that their families are worse off financially than they were a year ago. Nearly three in 10 (29.8%) of Latinas report that their family finances are worse off compared to the start of 2020. Overall, almost half of women are either “very worried” (23.7%) or “somewhat worried” (24%) about their total family income being enough to pay all their bills. Concern is much higher among Latina women, with two out of three (66.6%) women reporting worry about having enough income to meet family expenses.
Across race and ethnicity, 69% of women surveyed support paid sick and time away from to work to have a child, recover from serious health conditions, or to care for a family member. One in four women (25.2%) report that during the pandemic they needed to take time off from work, but did not. In fact, rates were highest among Latinas and Black women. Additionally, about 20% of women with children want the new president and congress to also address childcare and education in their first 100 days.
“The experiences of women during the pandemic with job losses, increased caretaking responsibilities due to school and day care closures, and economic hardship means they should take the lead on helping define policy priorities and strategies for an equitable recovery,” stated C. Nicole Mason, IWPR’s President and CEO. “Short and long-term relief and recovery strategies should focus on job creation in hardest hit sectors, and economic and social supports for women who will not be able to immediately return to the workforce.”
WOMEN’S TOP POLICY PRIORITIES
The IWPR report reveals exactly which priorities the Biden administration should focus on. They include:
- Healthcare is first on the list of priorities for women: Nearly a year into the pandemic, close to 50% of women ranked affordable, high-quality healthcare as the number one priority for the Biden administration, followed closely by the economic recession (40.5%) and unemployment (35.8%).
- Improving economic conditions: Women are looking for policies and solutions aimed at improving their economic conditions; and to alleviate the suffering caused by the economic recession. Approximately 40.5% of women surveyed said rebuilding the economy was among their top five priorities, along with stemming unemployment (35.8%) set off by stay-at-home orders and efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19.
- Racial Justice or Inequality: Black women are looking for policies aimed at improving racial justice or inequality (their most mentioned priority – 49.1%) and income inequality (which 30.4% of Black women included in their top five priorities). Among White women, only about a quarter believed racial justice or inequality to be a high-ranking priority.
- Raising the Minimum Wage: Black (39.1%) and Latina women (26.9%) would like to see an increase in the federal minimum wage. Both groups are over-represented among women workers in lower-wage jobs and occupations.
- Taxes: Rounding out the list of top priorities for women are taxes with 28.4% identifying it as a top issue. Among women surveyed, Latinas and White women were more likely to see taxes as a key priority, 34.4% and 29%, respectively.
Click here to download a copy of the report.
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