Economic equity news is a weekly round-up of articles by Donna Seymour of AAUW-NYS that features our core values of poverty solutions, opportunity and access, workplace fairness, healthy lives, equal pay and representation at all tables. Sign up for our mailing list to receive this directly to your inbox.
- Life in the Only Industrialized Country Without Paid Maternity Leave via The Atlantic
Many cultures have rules for new mothers and babies. The Latin American cuarentena and the Uzbek chillarepresent 40 days of rest and social support. In China, women rest in bed for a month; in Korea, for 21 days. In the United States, however, the time for rest, bonding, and recovery often is determined not by tradition, or even by a doctor’s recommendations, but by the new mother’s employment situation.
- The Gender Wage Gap Just Got Bigger via ThinkProgress
The gender wage gap actually widened last year, according to a new analysis from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) based on weekly data for full-time workers. The ratio of median weekly earnings for women who work full time compared to men was 81.1 percent in 2015, a 1.4 percentage point decrease over the year before.
- 20 Inspirational Milestones in Women’s Equality via Catalyst
How far have we come with helping women and girls achieve their ambitions? Take a look at some of the past year’s most inspirational moments worldwide, commemorating women’s successes and achievements—socially, economically, culturally and politically—as we celebrate today. #IWD2016
This year, our state has a chance to take a historic step forward to restore fairness, opportunity and economic security to working families. I’ve proposed a policy of 12 weeks of paid family leave that would support working parents who need time off to bond with a new child or others who need to care for a loved one facing a serious illness. It would be the most robust such program in the nation — and it would show the nation what it means to stand up for and help working families.
- Salesforce Spent $3 Million on Equal Pay—Here’s How Many Employees Got Raises As a Result via Fortune
Speaking at the Fortune Global Forum last November, Salesforce chairman and CEO Marc Benioff revealed that his company spent about $3 million in 2015 to equalize compensation across the company, closing the tech giant’s gender pay gap. So, what does that mean for Salesforce employees?
There’s ample evidence that empowering women creates unbeatable value, both economically and socially. Advancing women around the world could add as much as $12 trillion to global growth by 2025, according to estimates by McKinsey and Co. In developing economies such as India’s, creating equal opportunities for women could boost the GDP by 1.4%…or $700 billion by 2025.
Donna Seymour, who hails from the (far upstate) North Country of NYS, has spent 40 plus years advocating for children, women and family issues, equity, sustainability, and social justice issues. Currently serving as the Public Policy VP for AAUW-NYS (the American Association University Women), she is also a member the League of Women Voters, the Equal Pay Coalition, PTA, NOW, and Planned Parenthood, just to name a few.