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.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that indicates disparities between women and men across various industries regarding access to paid sick days. The report reveals that women’s access to paid sick days is greater in occupations where they are under-represented and lower in occupations where they are overrepresented.
Child care benefits all of American society, but because it is still mainly seen as a women’s issue, sexism has prevented necessary reforms from happening.
This is apparent in the misconceptions about how poor women spend their money. The truth is that mothers earning salaries below the poverty line are sacrificing almost half of their earnings on child care. According to a 2015 study by the National Women’s Law Center, child care costs affect women more than men, as costs consume a larger share of employed mothers’ incomes than overall family income. This often discourages women from participating in the paid workforce, and even when mothers of very young children do participate, nearly one in five end up in low-wage jobs.
- Company To Pay Record-Breaking Damages For Telling Pregnant Woman She Couldn’t Do Her Job Anymore via Think Progress
Auto parts retailer AutoZone dropped its challenge to a verdict ordering it to pay a record-breaking $185 million in damages to a former employee who claimed she was demoted and fired for being pregnant.
- There’s No Federal Law Stopping Businesses From Discriminating Against Female Customers. Now There’s A Bill To Fix That via Huffington Post
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) are introducing legislation Thursday that would amend the Civil Rights Act to make it more inclusive. Most notably, it would add sexual orientation and gender identity protections, meaning LGBT people would be protected from discrimination in credit, education, employment, housing, federal financial assistance, jury service and public accommodations — just like everyone else.
Donna Seymour, who hales 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 Universality Women), she also is a member the League of Women Voters, the Equal Pay Coalition, PTA, NOW, and Planned Parenthood, just to name a few.