By Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney and Heidi Hartmann
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka promised to improve the lives of working women. The campaign vowed to align federal policies with the needs of women and families—from pledging to fight for equal pay for equal work, to guaranteeing six weeks of paid maternity leave and tax credits for child care expenses. President-elect Donald Trump would be smart to take action on these and other issues—they are not only for the good of women and their families, but for our economy.
The most recent economic indicators make it clear that President-elect Trump will be inheriting an economy far stronger than the one facing President Obama when he took office nearly eight years ago. We went from losing 800,000 jobs a month to creating nearly 200,000 jobs a month and turned a sharp economic contraction into steady economic growth. Yet, there is more work to be done to boost incomes and expand the middle class.
As Congress and the new President search for a real fiscal stimulus with long-term payoffs, they should look no further than fighting for equal pay for women and investing in paid family leave and quality, affordable child care.
