Happy Women’s Equality Day!
It has been 93 years since women gained the right to vote. A lot has changed in those years. Today, women make up nearly half of the workforce, and we are primary breadwinners in 40 percent of households with children. But, for the most part, our nation’s workplace policies have failed to keep pace with change.
Too often today, women are denied pay and promotions that are offered to their male counterparts.
Too often, pregnant women are forced out of their jobs or denied reasonable accommodations that would let them continue working.
Too often, workplaces fail to offer the paid sick days – and paid family and medical leave – that support women, families, communities and businesses themselves. It is simply not sustainable to force workers to choose between the jobs they need and the families they love.
Quite simply: Women’s work matters – to families, to businesses, to our economy and to our country. We must to make it possible for women, and all workers, to support their families and succeed in their jobs.
More lawmakers are recognizing that, and more cities and states are considering laws that will finally bring our workplaces into sync with families. At this critical time, women need a say in who will vote on the legislative proposals that will shape our lives.
That is why I was proud to join with diverse leaders from the civil rights and other movements this morning to call for an end to the shameful efforts to disenfranchise women, or any voters. Hear our conference call, organized by the Center for American Progress, here.
This weekend, we had a powerful reminder that, when people come together to demand change, they can have a profound and lasting impact. The nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of the historic March for Jobs and Freedom this weekend, on the eve of Women’s Equality Day. This is a week when people are coming together to call for fairness and equality in this country. The National Partnership is proud to be part of that, and to continue fighting for strong voter protections, for genuine equality and fairness for all, and for the advances that will keep our democracy strong. That is the unfinished agenda of these times.
