Statement of Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Partnership for Women & Families President Jocelyn C. Frye sent a letter to the Biden administration and congressional leadership, urging them to oppose a debt ceiling deal that would hurt women and families and perpetuates racial stereotypes and ableism – like the harmful spending cuts and work requirements proposed by House Republicans. In the letter, Frye called out the disastrous cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and TANF that would disproportionately target women who often rely on social programs to make ends meet.

“[Republicans] seeking cuts are presenting a false choice: avoiding a global financial crisis that could impact our economy for decades to come does not require sacrificing the health, safety and well-being of the nation’s workers and families. Instead of forcing families struggling to make ends meet to make do with less, policymakers should center the needs of women – especially women of color – and families in their economic decision-making to create an economy that works for everyone by investing in caregiving, health care, and anti-discrimination enforcement measures,” wrote NPWF President Jocelyn Frye.

Frye continued: “Extending the debt ceiling without harming women and families and perpetuating racial stereotypes and ableism is possible. It is also necessary to support the health and economic security of women and families across the country – and to sustain any economic progress made in recent years, which benefits the nation as a whole.”

Republican House Leadership – which voted to raise the debt ceiling three times during the Trump administration while cutting taxes for the wealthy during the same period – has manufactured a debt ceiling crisis in order to threaten cuts to essential programs that too many women and families rely on to survive.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that, if Republicans’ “Limit, Save, Grow Act” became law it would “jeopardize health coverage and access to care for 21 million Americans.” The proposed cuts would put almost 1 million children at risk of losing vital cash assistance through TANF and threaten the ability of almost 1 million people aged 50-55 to access basic food assistance through SNAP. Additionally, the work requirements targeting people facing financial distress are based on false, stereotypical, deeply racialized, and ableist assumptions about people and work. Black women are disproportionately targeted by work requirements, despite having a higher labor force participation than other groups of women. And, the Congressional Budget Office finds that requirements, across programs, are deeply harmful. TANF work requirements, for example, “likely played a role in increasing the number of families in deep poverty.”

As negotiations on the debt limit continue, NPWF is joining growing calls from advocates to center the health and economic security of women and families in policy decisions.

Full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Congressional Leaders:

The National Partnership for Women & Families urges policymakers to oppose a debt ceiling deal that harms women and families and perpetuates racial stereotypes and ableism. The current politically manufactured debt ceiling crisis is dangerous and irresponsible. Despite having voted to raise the debt ceiling in 2017, 2018, and 2019 – including to accommodate Trump-era policy priorities such as tax cuts for the wealthy – House leadership is using this moment to threaten disastrous cuts to essential programs that too many women and families rely on to survive. Those seeking cuts are presenting a false choice: avoiding a global financial crisis that could impact our economy for decades to come does not require sacrificing the health, safety and well-being of the nation’s workers and families. Instead of forcing families struggling to make ends meet to make do with less, policymakers should center the needs of women – especially women of color – and families in their economic decision-making to create an economy that works for everyone by investing in caregiving, health care, and anti- discrimination enforcement measures.

The spending cuts and burdensome requirements included in the House Republican-passed “Limit, Save, Grow Act” would harm women and families if allowed to become law. The Act would cut Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF, all programs in which women are especially likely to participate, by imposing additional work requirements on top of requirements that already exist. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that, if passed, the legislation would “jeopardize health coverage and access to care for 21 million Americans.” Similarly, proposed changes would put almost 1 million children at risk of losing vital cash assistance through TANF and threaten the ability of almost 1 million people aged 50-55 to access basic food assistance through SNAP. And as the many agency responses to Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro’s requests reveal, the bill’s proposed overall cuts to discretionary spending put programs like WIC, child care, Pell grants, housing – programs essential to women’s economic security – and more on the chopping block.

The policies in the House-passed bill are based on false, stereotypical, deeply racialized, and ableist assumptions about people and work. Work requirements targeting people facing financial distress – which are rooted in slavery and often were premised on racist assumptions that Black people were “lazy and work-shy” – do not increase formal employment or economic security in the long term. The Congressional Budget Office finds that requirements, across programs, are deeply harmful – TANF work requirements, for example, “likely played a role in increasing the number of families in deep poverty.” Two-thirds of families with low incomes – those living under 200 percent of the poverty line – already have at least one working family member. And Black women, a community that work requirements disproportionately target, have always had higher labor force participation than other groups of women despite substantial wage gaps and discrimination in the labor market.

Failing to raise the debt ceiling and forcing a government default would also be catastrophic to women and families. While no one knows precisely how the government would function if the debt ceiling were breached, Social Security payments, school lunches, Medicaid and food assistance could all be at risk. These supports are essential to the daily well-being of women and families, who disproportionately rely on many of these programs to make ends meet.

The harm to women and families due to the disruption of vital programs will be compounded by the overall economic consequences of a debt ceiling breach. Experts anticipate that such a breach will send the global economy into a tailspin, with disastrous consequences. Plunging the economy into crisis for political purposes at this specific moment is especially harmful to marginalized workers. A strong job market since the COVID-induced downturn has created openings for workers who are often shut out of economic opportunities, leading to historically low unemployment for Black women and dramatic gains for women with disabilities. Yet even in this strong economy, women continue to be paid unfairly and unemployment rates for marginalized groups remain substantially higher than for white adults. The presence of these disparities, especially in a strong economy, makes clear that there is more to do to support women workers, workers of color, and workers with disabilities, rather than erase their progress through political games.

Even as it proposes drastic cuts to programs that serve the most marginalized, the partisan- driven legislation reduces IRS enforcement funding, which would result in millions of dollars for billionaire tax cheats. This avoidable political crisis – already fueled by Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthy and championed by people unlikely to feel the pain of their proposed cuts – is precisely the wrong approach.

The pending Republican-sponsored legislation proposes a false choice: is it better to cause unthinkable harm to women, families, and the economy overall through drastic cuts to vital programs, or by breaching the debt ceiling? But there is no need to cause harm at all. Extending the debt ceiling without harming women and families and perpetuating racial stereotypes and ableism is possible. It is also necessary to support the health and economic security of women and families across the country – and to sustain any economic progress made in recent years, which benefits the nation as a whole.

Jocelyn Frye
President, National Partnership for Women & Families

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