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Womenstake, NWLC's Blog

#NotBuyingIt: Taking a Stand against an Outdated Method of Advertising

Posted by Andrea Alajbegovic, Outreach Intern | Posted on: February 07, 2012 at 03:26 pm

First of all, I want to congratulate the New York Giants, winners of Super Bowl XLVI, and Mario Manningham, fellow Michigan Wolverine, on a well-played victory.

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Tell Congress: Protect Unemployment Insurance for Millions of Americans

Posted by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security | Posted on: February 06, 2012 at 02:35 pm

They're at it again. I'm sure you remember the feverish news cycle — federal unemployment insurance (UI) benefits were set to expire right before the holidays in December. House Republicans passed a bill that would slash the UI safety net (and more). At the last minute, Congress agreed to continue federal UI benefits for two months. But that extension expires in less than a month. We need your help to prevent millions of unemployed workers from losing the lifeline of UI benefits.

Tell Congress: Fully Renew Unemployment Insurance for 2012 — no cuts, no barriers to benefits!

The House Republican leadership is still pushing to dismantle UI, with drastic benefit cuts and new barriers that would prevent many jobless workers from accessing these vital benefits.

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South Carolinians: Act Now! Don't Let South Carolina Cut Benefits for Unemployed Workers

Posted by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security | Posted on: February 06, 2012 at 12:04 pm

It's not easy to be an unemployed worker in South Carolina. Unemployment is sky-high, jobs are scarce, and last year the legislature cut state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits down to just 20 weeks — the lowest level in the country.

But while workers and families struggle in this tough economy, the state Senate will soon vote on two bills that would block access to critical UI benefits for many South Carolinians:

  • S. 1026 would deny benefits to steady part-time workers — mostly women — who lose their jobs and cannot take on full-time employment due to child care responsibilities or other family obligations.
  • S. 1069 would cut benefits for seasonal workers who have lost their jobs by making them ineligible for any benefits during the off-season.

We need your help to stop these bills from moving forward! Click here to look up your state Senator's phone number. Then, call and ask him to vote NO on S. 1026 and S. 1069!

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NWLC’s Weekly Roundup: January 30 – February 3

Posted by Danielle Jackson, Online Outreach Associate | Posted on: February 03, 2012 at 05:14 pm

Hi all, and welcome to another weekly blog roundup! This week we’ve got stories about some anti-choice bills in Virginia, a new video and call to action on SNDA,  an update on Samantha Garvey, some of the perils faced by pregnant women on the job, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure decision on Planned Parenthood, and some wrap-ups on blog carnivals we participated in this week, all after the jump.

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Title IX Pioneers Make the Pass Before the Assist

Posted by Kayla Faria, Intern | Posted on: February 03, 2012 at 04:14 pm

After a day like Wednesday, the rest of the week seems painfully ordinary. When I told my friend this, she said I sounded like Timmy Turner asking for Christmas every day.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day may not have been Christmas, but it was a gift.

As a journalism major, I’m supposed to have a way with words, which is why I make it my business to own all of my opponents in Words With Friends, Scrabble, and Bananagrams. However, I realized yesterday I couldn’t tell a single story about the day without repeatedly using the words “great” and “amazing.”

Whether I was relaying Lillian Greene-Chamberlain’s sports and advocacy stories, bragging about meeting Barbara Mikulski or talking about how Representative Linda Sanchez can talk some serious softball, I couldn’t help reiterating those same words.

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January Jobs Data Brings Improvements for Women and Men

Posted by Abby Lane, Fellow | Posted on: February 03, 2012 at 03:23 pm

It’s the first month of jobs data for 2012 and January is off to a good start, according to NWLC’s number crunching this morning. The newly released jobs data for January brought some good news – drops in unemployment and job gains for both women and men this month.

Here are a few things you should know from today’s jobs data:

  • Women’s and men’s unemployment is the same for the first time since the start of the recession. When the recession officially began in December 2007, the unemployment rate for both women and men stood at 4.4 percent. Over two and a half years later, their unemployment rates finally meet again – at 7.7 percent. Since the start of the recovery in June 2009, men’s unemployment has dropped 2.2 percentage points, while women’s unemployment has essentially remained flat – rising slightly from 7.6 percent in June 2009.
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More Good News from Delaware: Minimum Wage Increase Passes Senate

Posted by Andrea Alajbegovic, Outreach Intern | Posted on: February 03, 2012 at 10:18 am

Last week I wrote about a proposed minimum wage increase that had passed through the Delaware Senate Labor Committee. This week, I am happy to report that the bill has cleared the Senate! The bill would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 by January 1, 2013. This increase is needed and welcome—but it’s still not enough to bring the wages of a single mother with two kids working full time, year round, above the poverty line. 

Women would especially benefit from an increase in the federal minimum wage because nearly two-thirds of the workers who made at or below the federal minimum wage in 2010 are women. And the recovery has been especially slow for women, who, by the end of 2011, had gained only 3% of the jobs added since the recovery started in June 2009.

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Women’s Health is Essential Health

Posted by Dania Palanker, Senior Health Policy Advisor | Posted on: February 03, 2012 at 09:55 am

In 2014, all health insurance plans in the individual or small group market will have to cover a core set of Essential Health Benefits. This means that when a woman becomes pregnant, she won’t have to worry that her insurance doesn’t cover maternity care. Whether she gets coverage through a small business employer, on the individual market, or the new health insurance marketplaces called exchange – she will know that maternity care and other important health services for women are considered essential.

The components of the Essential Health Benefit package are one of the most important parts of the health care law because they are intended to correct longstanding discriminatory practices that women face in the vast majority of states. The National Women’s Law Center submitted comments on the Essential Health Benefits requirements of the Affordable Care Act to make sure these discriminatory practices are put to an end and the health needs of women are met.

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