Womenstake, NWLC's Blog

Today’s release of March jobs data brought far less exciting news than February. The economy added only 88,000 jobs last month, less than 30% of which went to women and unemployment rates were little changed for adult women and men, hovering around 7 percent.

Here are the numbers that stood out to me as we crunched the numbers for today’s NWLC analysis:

• 25,000: That’s the number of jobs women gained in March and it’s less than 30 percent of the total jobs added last month. It’s a tiny number and nowhere near what is necessary for a real recovery. Since the recovery started in June 2009, women and men have each gained private sector jobs, but public sector losses continue to hold everyone back – particularly women.

  

• 12,000: That’s the number of manufacturing jobs that women lost last month, while men gained 9,000. Just a few weeks ago we published an analysis of how the manufacturing recovery has been nonexistent for women. In his State of the Union address, President Obama praised the manufacturing gains since January 2010, just three years prior. But here’s the full story: Since January 2010, the economy has gained over a half million manufacturing jobs — men have gained 557,000, while women have actually lost 36,000. This isn’t a recovery for women in “man”ufacturing.

Arlington, Virginia has turned back a proposal to eliminate the county’s important child care health and safety standards, thanks to strong advocacy efforts and recognition by County Board members of the importance of protecting our youngest children. The county manager, as part of an effort to address a budget shortfall, had proposed to save $250,000 by eliminating the local Office of Child Care Licensing. But letters and phone calls from the public and research from early childhood experts convinced the County Board that the short-term savings were far outweighed by the benefits of safeguarding children’s well-being.

Arlington County’s child care standards are crucial for ensuring the health and safety of children because Virginia does not set adequate standards of its own. For example, Virginia does not regulate providers caring for fewer than six unrelated children, while Arlington regulates any providers caring for more than three children.

This post is the seventh in a series of weekly posts containing tax information and filing tips. Check back next week for our next post, or click here to read past posts. 

Tax Day is right around the corner! If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, here are the top 8 things you should know before April 15.

1. You may be eligible to have your taxes done for free.

If you make less than $51,000 a year, you may be eligible to have your taxes filed for free through an IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers

If you are over age 59, you may also be eligible, even if you earn a moderate income. The IRS-sponsored Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and the AARP-sponsored Tax-Aide sites both offer free tax services to individuals 60 years of age or older. For more information, check out this article.

2. Where to find a free tax service preparation center near you.

To find out where you can go to get free help with your taxes at IRS sponsored sites, go to http://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/ or call the IRS toll-free at (800) 906-9887. This website will also tell you if the site needs an appointment or accepts walk-ins, so you can plan your visit.

For Tax-Aide sites, go to: www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/ or call 1-888-OUR-AARP.