Work and Family
The equal participation of women in politics and government is integral to building strong communities and a vibrant democracy in which women and men can thrive. By voting, running for office, and engaging in civil society as leaders and activists, women shape laws, policies, and decision-making in ways that reflect their interests and needs, as well as those of their families and communities.
Today, women constitute a powerful force in the electorate and inform policymaking at all levels of government. Yet, women continue to be underrepresented in governments across the nation and face barriers that often make it difficult for them to exercise political power and assume leadership positions in the public sphere. This chapter presents data on several aspects of women’s involvement in the political process in the United States: voter registration and turnout, female state and federal elected and appointed representation, and state-based institutional resources for women. It examines how women fare on these indicators of women’s status, the progress women have made and where it has stalled, and how racial and ethnic disparities compound gender disparities in specific forms of political participation.
Details
Map Description, legend or descriptive text
Section Links
Political Participation Rank and Score by State
Women and the Care Crisis: Valuing In-Home Care in Policy and Practice
The paper suggests that to improve the quality of in-home care jobs, address the industry’s anticipated labor shortage, and ensure that high-quality care is available in the United States, it is necessary to increase the value attributed to care work through critical changes in public policies and practices. These changes would benefit not only the women and men who are care workers or recipients, but also the nation overall. As a sector in which job growth is especially rapid, the care industry is integral to the U.S. economy; as a result, any changes that help to fill the gap in this industry and improve conditions for its workforce will strengthen the nation’s economy as a whole.
Breadwinner Mothers by Race/Ethnicity
The large majority of mothers in the United States are in the labor force making their economic contribution vital for their families’ economic security. One in two of the over 30 million families with children under 18 in the United States have a breadwinner mother, who is either a single mother, irrespective of earnings, or a married mother contributing at least 40 percent of the couple’s joint earnings;
Dramatic Decline in Employment Hits Women Even More Severely than Men
In the four weeks since mid-March, 20.5 million jobs were lost, according to new payroll data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics this Friday, May 8. Women bore the majority of job losses, 11.3 million (55 percent of the total), compared with 9.2 million jobs lost by men
Student Parents in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Heightened Need and the Imperative for Strengthened Support
Nearly four million undergraduates, or more than one in five college students, are parents of children under 18. These student parents face—in normal times— disproportionate economic insecurity, difficulty meeting basic needs, and significant time and caregiving demands. Yet, in spite of these challenges, they are also incredibly resilient.
Women Lost More Jobs than Men in almost all Sectors of the Economy
Employment data released on Friday, April 3 show dramatic job losses and sharp rises in unemployment for both women and men since February. Altogether 701,000 jobs were lost, the majority (58.8 percent or 412,188) by women. While these estimates of job losses are already outdated – since their collection in the second week of March new applications for unemployment reached almost ten times that level–they point to the critical role of gender in understanding the impact of the COVID -19 crisis.
The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation 2019
Women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in nearly all occupations, whether they work in occupations predominantly done by women, occupations predominantly done by men, or occupations with a more even mix of men and women. Data for both women’s and men’s median weekly earnings for full-time work are available for 125 occupations.
