“This is appalling,” said Sarah Fleisch Fink, director of workplace policy and senior counsel at the organization. “Women in the fast food industry struggle to pay their rent, feed their kids, [and] buy warm clothes in the winter. We must do more to protect them from sexual harassment and ensure their employers take appropriate action when it does occur.”
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
“When a woman who was denied abortion coverage cannot keep her job because her employer refuses to make reasonable accommodations for her pregnancy–when she has no paid sick days for prenatal appointments or well-baby care–no paid family and medical leave to use after giving birth–the deck is truly stacked against her,” Debra L. Ness, president of National Partnership for Women & Families, said in a statement released with the analysis.
The success of those efforts demonstrated “a significant change in our culture of healthcare,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, a not-for-profit that counts promoting quality healthcare as part of its work, during a call with reporters.
It’s the most basic of rights and foundational to our ability to thrive: Every person should have the freedom to decide if, when and how to raise a family. But for many women struggling to make ends meet, this is not reality.
All of the jokes about parenthood are true: You stumble through life bleary-eyed, eager to spend every moment with your child yet desperate for the next break. If you intend to throw your life into real chaos, however, try pulling off parenthood without paid leave and affordable child care.
While D.C. has historically had one of the lowest pay wage gaps in the nation, it remains stark: women make 90 cents to the dollar for men, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
The National Partnership for Women and Families says that the gender pay gap in Connecticut is 83 cents, while in Mississippi, it’s 77 cents.
Recent years have seen some legal advances, with more than two dozen cities, five states and the District of Columbia passing sick leave laws, but, “what we need to do is pass the Healthy Family Act, that’s the bottom line,” says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Those comments about women’s wages are true — according to a study done by the National Partnership for Women and Families, white women make 79 cents on a white man’s dollar. And according to the same study, black women make 60 cents on a white man’s dollar meanwhile hispanic women only make 55 cents.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
As the changing needs of modern families continue to influence political discourse, these state-level victories are re-shaping national sentiment, says Vicki Shabo, vice president of the Partnership. “This is a critical juncture,” she says. “The buzz around these policies is at an all-time high, and it’s creating opportunities for regular people to have their voices heard.”
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
“Forced arbitration allows employers to sweep even the most egregious harassment under the rug, sometimes for decades, and evade laws designed to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace,” writes Judith Lichtman, senior advisor at the National Partnership for Women & Families.
“The national imperative to transform our healthcare system into one that delivers better care and better outcomes at lower cost cannot possibly succeed without the active engagement of patients and family caregivers,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, which leads the Consumer Partnership for eHealth.
Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, writes about the progress that has been made during Barack Obama’s presidency to obtain equal opportunity for women in the workplace. “In recent years, the Obama administration has used Labor Days – and many of the days in between – to advance the fair and family friendly workplace policies the country needs,” she writes.
Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families and a task force member, said patients are the ones who are present at every aspect of healthcare treatment, so their opinions should be valued. “If you really want to create a system that is creating health, then you need to engage with and co-create with the very people you’re trying to help,” she said.