Why Women Should Vote - Basic Facts

Our government is making decisions every day that affect women’s lives. But our leaders’ priorities often don’t match women’s priorities.

• Women need and use more health care than men do

• Women have higher rates of disability and chronic conditions

• Women report more mental health issues

• Women’s reproductive needs require them to get regular check ups, whether or not they have children

• Women of all ages are nearly 40% more likely than men to take prescription medications on a regular basis

• Women lack health insurance that covers their health care needs

• There are 17 million women in the U.S. without any health coverage at all, and this number continues to grow every year

• Even for women with coverage, more women than men have insurance that doesn’t cover all the health services they need and requires higher out-of-pocket payments

• One in every five women—and one in three low-income women—reports that she did not fill a prescription medicine in the last year because of cost

• Women pay more of the cost of their health care throughout their lives than men pay

• Women are poorer and therefore their medical expenses represent a greater proportion of their income than men

• Women are 50% more likely than men to report problems paying for their care

• Women during their reproductive years (ages 15-44) spend 68% more on their health care than men do during those years

• Some leaders in Washington are moving us in the wrong direction—they have:

• Promoted insurance plans that shift more health costs onto the consumer

• Pushed for eliminating benefits from insurance such as cancer screenings, birth control pills and mental health services

• Reduced benefits and raised costs for the women and children who get care through Medicaid, the health insurance plan that covers the poorest families in the country

• Created a prescription drug program that makes the lowest income seniors and people with disabilities worse off than they were before the law passed

If you think our leaders in Washington aren’t doing what they should to address the challenges you face in your life—REGISTER and VOTE! Remember, elections can be decided by just a handful of votes, so YOUR VOTE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

To register to vote, get information on voting (your polling place, how to vote absentee, etc.), or learn about the candidates in your area, go to http://capwiz.com/nwlc/e4/ and enter your state or zip code.

The National Women’s Law Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has been working to advance and protect women’s legal rights since 1972. Women’s Voices. Women Vote is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to mobilize women to register to vote and to go to the polls on Election Day. Neither organization takes positions on candidates or elections, and nothing herein should be construed as an endorsement of any candidate or party.