On October 1, the federal government shut down because Republicans were unable to pass a funding bill, despite having control over all three branches of government. As the shutdown enters its fifth week, women and families across the country continue to feel the devastating economic impact. When the government is shut down, all non-essential activities are put on pause, leaving nearly 1.4 million federal employees on unpaid leave or working without pay. Furthermore, government programs that provide life-sustaining resources come to an abrupt halt.
Members of Congress who are standing in the way of keeping healthcare affordable are also hurting women through the government shutdown. The pending cuts to Affordable Care Act tax credits, along with Medicaid cuts made in the Republican budget bill earlier this year, could lead to many Americans losing healthcare coverage and the cost of premiums to balloon, deeply harming economically vulnerable families.
1. The government shutdown harms essential services.
Federal workers are essential for the government to function through providing services in public safety, processing social benefit claims, keeping air travel safe, delivering mail and many other functions that are vital but go unnoticed everyday. The federal government is the largest employer in the United States, and is responsible for the employment of 2.3 million federal workers. Nearly 1.1 million of those workers are women, and last year, workers of color made up 41 percent of the overall federal workforce. Historically, employment in the federal government has been seen as a refuge for individuals who routinely faced discrimination in the workplace, due to the government’s fair hiring practices and workplace policies.
As the shutdown continues, many workers – specifically many women of color – are facing or are going to face significant financial disruptions that could lead to increased economic insecurity – such as bills going unpaid and forgoing medical care due to costs.
2. Due to the shutdown, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are at risk and could leave millions of families without food benefits.
WIC is an essential public health nutrition program that provides support for eligible pregnant and postpartum women, and children up until the age 5. Last year, WIC served nearly 7 million pregnant women and babies. And more than half of all infant formula in the United States is purchased using WIC benefits. Since the shutdown, some states have stepped in to provide their own funding to support their WIC programs. Until the shutdown ends, WIC will be at risk, and programs may be forced to halt food benefits.
SNAP provides nutrition and food purchasing assistance to low- and no-income households, and the program has been critical to mitigating food insecurity. In a single month in 2024, SNAP helped more than 41 million low-income people in the United States afford nutritional food. Beginning on November 1, state funding for SNAP will be at risk.
The TANF program provides temporary cash assistance to families with children and low incomes and provides critical support to approximately 1 million families. The program also serves as a lifeline for disabled women of color and their families. Among adult beneficiaries, women, and single mothers in particular, are more likely to be TANF recipients. The authorization of this program expired in September.
If the shutdown persists, millions of women and children could lose access to necessary income and nutrition support.
3. As the shutdown stretches on, tens of thousands of families could lose access to Head Start programs overnight.
Head Start is a program that supports income-eligible families with free child care and health screenings and connects parents to job training, housing and food assistance. Last year, Head Start served over 700,000 children. Beginning November 1 an estimated 134 programs, serving 58,627 children, will be impacted by the lack of funding. Childcare access is fundamental to families’ economic success and women being able to work outside of the home. The government shutdown will leave more families and children behind with each day it continues.
4. The shutdown harms survivors of gender-based violence.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and this month has been riddled with funding delays and growing fear around continuing essential services for survivors of domestic violence.
Under the Department of Justice, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) oversees grant programs that help provide support to organizations serving survivors of domestic violence. As a result of the government shutdown, 87 percent of OVW officials have been furloughed, causing programs to pause and new grants to be administered at a slower rate. Services at risk of pausing due to a lack of funding include:
- 24-hour hotlines for crisis intervention
- Transitional housing
- Legal services
- Funds for survivors to change the locks on their homes
It is estimated that nearly 12 million men and women in the United States are affected by domestic violence every year. On a single day in 2024, nearly 80,000 survivors sought assistance from local domestic violence programs. A sudden pause on funding could lead to organizations limiting access or closing doors on survivors, leaving them vulnerable in unsafe environments. Without critical funds, thousands of women and their children will be left without services to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Similarly, The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which leads investigations into sexual assault investigations on university campuses are also on hold. The U.S. Department of Education has furloughed 95 percent of employees that are deemed as nonessential. Subsequently, federal officials are unable to contact college students who have filed complaints, nor conduct follow-up visits to universities. A continuing government shutdown leaves survivors and victims of gender-based violence behind.
5. The shutdown is leaving women workers vulnerable to unchecked discrimination and wage theft.
The Women’s Bureau is more than a century old, and its work has protected the interests of working women and advocated for their equality, including curbing widespread gender-based harassment in the workplace through research, policy, grantmaking and stakeholder engagement. Without it, that important research, which offers guidance to lawmakers, advocates and companies across the U.S., has come to a halt.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is responsible for investigating job discrimination, has furloughed most of their staff. The EEOC operates with approximately 1,800 employees, but only 128 will remain on duty during the shutdown. The EEOC will continue to accept new charges, but will not take any further action – and will only litigate cases that have not been granted an extension. As the shutdown lingers, charges will continue to pile up and workers could be left without legal recourse for longer.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, responsible for enforcing federal wage laws, has furloughed all but 65 of its 1,270 employees. This means that workers who have had their wages stolen or unlawfully denied leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act will not be able to reach out to the federal government for help. Workers who were being helped will see delays in their investigations and in receiving the redress they are owed. This delay in enforcement is especially hard for women, who remain overrepresented in jobs that pay low wages and are in most need of pay protections.
Working women deserve to work free from discrimination and harassment and to be paid fairly for their work. Every day the government is shut down, working women are left without critical supports.
The government shutdown’s impact on women and children cannot be overstated. The interruptions to necessary federal programs and employment will leave women and their families to bear the brunt of the consequences. At a time fraught with economic uncertainty, women and families need access to these programs more than ever.
Credits: Authors would like to thank Gail Zuagar, Jessica Mason, Kate Gallagher Robbins, Sharita Gruberg, Udochi Onwubiko, Grace Nielson, Michelle Feit, and Mettabel Law for their contributions.
