Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst

Katherine Gallagher Robbins

Katherine Gallagher Robbins is a Senior Policy Analyst for Family Economic Security at the National Women’s Law Center where she examines how tax and budget policies influence the financial stability and security of low-income women and families.  Before joining the Center in 2010, Ms. Gallagher Robbins worked as an organizer for the California Public Interest Research Group at the University of California, San Diego. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a graduate of the College of William and Mary.

Expert in: Data on Poverty & Income, Poverty & Income Support
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My Take

The Sequester Will Exacerbate Already Steep Public Sector Job Losses

Posted by Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst | Posted on: February 26, 2013 at 10:10 am

The sequester is looming and recent estimates have shown that it would cost 750,000 jobs in 2013 alone. These losses would ripple through the economy, including public sector workers and government contractors, workers in other sectors who support these industries, and jobs in the overall economy that are supported when public sector workers spend their paychecks. These cuts would fall heavily on public sector employees – teachers, health care workers, first responders – a sector which can ill-afford more losses.

In fact, new NWLC analysis shows that for both men and women the public sector was the ONLY major sector which lost jobs between January 2012-January 2013. The sector overall lost 74,000 jobs in the last year, 63,000 of which – over 85 percent – were women’s jobs.

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Tags: Federal Budget, Jobs, Public Sector, Sequester, Unemployment, Poverty & Income Support, Tax & Budget | 1 comment

Women Account for 72 Percent of the Decline In Union Membership from 2011 to 2012

Posted by Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst | Posted on: January 23, 2013 at 01:00 pm

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on union membership for 2012. We did some number-crunching which shows that while unions are really important to women, their membership is dropping.

What’s going on with women and unions?

  • Between 2011 and 2012 the number of union members dropped by 398,000. Women were less than half (46 percent) of union members in 2011 – but they accounted for 72 percent of the decline.
  • Men are more likely than women to be members of unions. The gap between men’s and women’s union membership has narrowed over time. Last year it grew, for the first time since 2008, by 25 percent. Women’s rate of union membership (11.2 percent) was 1.2 percentage points lower than men’s (12.4 percent) in 2011. In 2012, women’s rate (10.5 percent) was 1.5 percentage points lower than men’s (12.0 percent).
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Tags: Unemployment, Employment | Add new comment

Adult Women's Unemployment Rate Exceeds Men's for the First Time in More Than Six Years

Posted by Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst | Posted on: January 04, 2013 at 05:25 pm

In September 2006, the U.S. hadn't been through the Great Recession, there were no iPhones, and the country had only seen one season of "dancing" stars.

September 2006 was also the last time that adult women's unemployment exceeded men's — that is, until LAST month! According to NWLC analysis of today's new jobs data, adult women's (20+) unemployment rate climbed to 7.3 percent in December, 2012. Women's unemployment edged above men's, which at a 7.2 percent rate was unchanged from November:

Monthly Change in Unemployment Rates (November 2012 – December 2012)

 

November 2012

December 2012

Change

 Adult Women (20+)

7.0 percent

7.3 percent

↑0.3 percentage points

 Adult Men (20+)

7.2 percent

7.2 percent

Unchanged

 Overall (16+)

7.8 percent

7.8 percent

Unchanged

 Source: Current Population Survey                                                                                           

The increase in unemployment for adult women overall was driven by new women job seekers who couldn't find work.

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Tags: Emergency Unemployment Extension, Jobs, Poverty & Income Support, Unemployment, Unemployment, Poverty & Income Support | 2 comments

Minimum Wage Rates Go Up In 10 States for 2013, Increasing Wages for Nearly 1 Million Workers

Posted by Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst | Posted on: January 03, 2013 at 03:22 pm

The minimum wage in ten states went up at the beginning of 2013. Rhode Island saw the largest increase of 35 cents per hour thanks to legislation passed in June. Minimum wages in the other nine states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) increased automatically because they are indexed to inflation, a policy which ensures that the minimum wage keeps pace with the increasing cost of living.

Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute reveals that nearly one million workers will get a raise from these increases. In each state, women are the majority of the workers who will see their wages go up. The impact on women is the largest in Missouri where they are nearly three-quarters of the workers who will benefit from the increased minimum wage. The economies of these states will also benefit — the increase in minimum wages will add nearly $184 million to GDP in 2013. 

These increases added some more good news to the victories minimum wage workers saw in the last few months — voters chose to increase the minimum wage in Albuquerque, San Jose, and Long Beach, and a bill to raise New Jersey's minimum wage has made its way to Governor Christie's desk.

Sadly, however, the minimum wage is still falling short for millions of Americans, especially women.

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Tags: Fair Minimum Wage Act, Minimum Wage, Poverty & Income Support, Minimum Wage, Poverty & Income Support | 36 comments

Living to 100 Would Be A Little Harder With Stealth Cuts to Social Security, Especially For Women

Posted by
Abby Lane, Fellow
Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst
| Posted on: December 10, 2012 at 06:19 pm

What does it mean to live to 100? People turning 100 in 2012 have witnessed a lot of amazing events. Four states have entered the union – New Mexico and Arizona the year they were born and Alaska and Hawaii when they were 47. Humans landed on the moon for the first time when they were 57. And when they were 23 – right when they entered the workforce – Social Security was created.  That means many of today’s centenarians paid into Social Security their whole working lives – and have relied on it for many decades as well. This reliance is particularly true for women, who are the majority of elderly Social Security beneficiaries – and especially very old beneficiaries. A new Census report released today (PDF) shows that women were a whopping 82.8 percent of all people who were age 100 and older. Social Security has been there for these women and their families for almost all of their lives.

But both current and future centenarians have reason to worry about a stealth cut to Social Security benefits by changing the way the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is calculated for Social Security. The annual COLA is a vital feature of Social Security that helps keep benefits from being eroded by inflation. One proposal being discussed as part of the year-end fiscal talks would base the COLA on the “chained Consumer Price Index” (chained CPI), a lower and less accurate measure of inflation which would reduce the annual COLA and cut the value of benefits year after year. The longer you receive benefits, the deeper the reduction from the chained CPI – meaning that the very oldest Americans, 4 out of 5 of whom are women, would be hit the hardest.

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Tags: Chained CPI, COLA, Social Security, Social Security, Social Security & Retirement | Add new comment