Why Women Should Vote: To Make the Economy Work for Women and Families!

The economy is still struggling to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  Women and their families – who already were particularly vulnerable – are at greatest risk.  By voting, women can make sure our leaders in Washington prioritize investments that will help women and their families through hard times, expand opportunity, and strengthen the economy – and support a fair tax system to provide the resources needed for those investments.

Women are struggling to support their families.

• One-third of working mothers are the sole wage-earners in the family either because their spouse is unemployed or out of the labor force or because they are heads of households. 
• By some measures, the recession is worsening for women.  In August 2010, unemployment among women who head families was 13.4 percent—the highest in over 25 years.  From August 2009 to August 2010, women lost 224,000 jobs while men gained 453,000.

Congress will face decisions that are important to women’s economic security for the short and long-term.

• With over 6 million Americans unemployed for six months or more, and five job seekers for every job opening, the next Congress will have to decide whether to invest in job creation and extended unemployment insurance for workers struggling to find jobs.
• State and local governments facing budget shortfalls have cut jobs and services ranging from child care assistance to afterschool programs to child support enforcement to health care assistance to services for the elderly.  The federal government has provided crucial help to fill some of these gaps, but in many cases this funding is expiring.  Congress will have to decide whether to renew this assistance.
• Congress also will decide whether to increase or cut investments in the well-being of our families and the nation, including whether to make high-quality child care more affordable, increase access to higher education and training, ensure access to comprehensive health care, improve child nutrition and food safety, and improve retirement security.

Responsible tax policies can support the investments we need to keep our families and nation strong.

• Extending Bush-era tax cuts that benefit only the highest earners would give millionaires an average tax cut of over $100,000 per year and cost over $700 billion over the next 10 years.  For the same amount of money, we could close the entire 75-year shortfall in Social Security.
• Closing wasteful tax loopholes for big corporations and the very wealthy could raise hundreds of billions of dollars, making the tax system fairer and providing needed revenue.

If women vote, Washington will listen.
REGISTER.  VOTE.

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. NWLC takes no position on candidates or elections, and nothing herein should be construed as an endorsement of any candidate or party.