Sharita Gruberg, vice president for economic justice at the National Partnership for Women and Families, the organization that originally drafted the FMLA, explains, “[FMLA] guarantees eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per [12-month period] to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, recover from their own serious health conditions, including pregnancy, or care for a seriously ill family member.”
The National Partnership for Women and Families estimates that presenteeism costs the United States more than $1.1 billion annually in preventable emergency room visits among workers without paid sick days. This can be avoided or reduced by incorporating paid sick leave policies in company budgets.
According to new data from the National Partnership for Women & Families and an NBC News analysis, 31% of lower-income Asian women of reproductive age live in states that have banned or are set to ban abortions. With reproductive care becoming harder to access each day, experts say the most vulnerable groups will be the most crippled — and face the starkest consequences.
Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, vice president for health justice at the nonpartisan nonprofit National Partnership for Women & Families, noted that Latinos often distrust medical institutions due to histories of maltreatment, like forced sterilizations.
States that have enacted abortion restrictions or bans also have “systemic” barriers in place that impede “the health and economic security of pregnant and birthing people and their families,” according to a new report from the nonpartisan and nonprofit National Partnership for Women & Families first shared with Axios. (Chen, 8/25)
States that have enacted abortion restrictions or bans also have “systemic” barriers in place that impede “support the health and economic security of pregnant and birthing people and their families,” according to a new report from the nonpartisan and nonprofit National Partnership for Women & Families first shared with Axios.
“According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, paid sick days help to reduce the loss of productivity that results when employees try to do their jobs while ill.”
“And in some states, like Louisiana, the disparity is even more significant. Data from the National Partnership for Women & Families indicates Black women in Louisiana only earn 48 cents on the dollar compared to their white male counterparts.”
“What we have seen for years is that lack of access to abortion or restrictions around abortion also occur in states that have some of the fewest supports,” says Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
“The folks pushing the harshest restrictions around reproductive rights are also the ones who don’t support the child tax credit or the child care expansion or paid family leave,” she says.
“And if you get out of the work-family policies, they are also the ones pushing voting rights restrictions,” Frye adds. “What it says to me is that this is really not about supporting women or families. It is not about women’s health. It is about a different type of agenda that mostly involves controlling women and controlling women’s bodies and furthering a particular ideology and viewpoint. And that is contrary to the rhetoric around supporting women and families.”
Shaina Goodman, director of reproductive health and rights at the National Partnership for Women & Families, a non-partisan abortion rights advocacy group, said “real people are suffering as a result” of the to-be-determined status of abortion in states like Michigan. She said restrictions may push people to pursue unofficial abortions that wouldn’t be reported to the state.
“Often, policies differ based on state laws or employer-based insurance coverage, but according to the non-profit National Partnership for Women and Families, just 19 percent of workers in the U.S. have access to paid family leave through their employers. A survey conducted by the NPWF found that 84 percent of U.S. voters support a national paid family and medical leave policy that covers all working people to care for a new child; a seriously ill, injured or disabled loved one; or their own health issue.”
“Lelaine Bigelow, the vice president for social impact and congressional relationships for the National Partnership for Women and Families, also listened to the focus groups and said it stuck out to her that women really want to hear from politicians on this issue.”
“The National Partnership for Women & Families estimates that approximately 870,900 reproductive-age women in Georgia are economically insecure, which means that they live in a family below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.”
“Enhancing the quality of pay data is an essential step to ensuring all workers’ rights, but is particularly necessary because women and workers from communities of color continue to face significant pay disparities,” said Jocelyn C. Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
“The work of women of color, in particular, has been persistently devalued for decades. For example, National Partnership research shows that Latinas make just 49 cents for every dollar white, non-Hispanic men are paid — the equivalent of two years of rent.”
According to a fact sheet produced by the National Partnership for Women & Families, if this gap were to be eliminated it would mean that the average income for Black women would increase by $23,074 annually. That’s money that could cover rising costs of healthcare, housing, food, and childcare.
“An analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families found that nearly 400,000 female veterans of reproductive age live in states likely or certain to ban abortion.”
Statement of Jocelyn C. Frye, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
How women of color in Georgia will be affected by the state’s new abortion law, an interview with Shaina Goodman
