“’The household survey is really the only source for intersectional employment data on a monthly basis. That means that for groups of women we and others have been watching especially closely during this period — for example, disabled women, Black women, women veterans — timely information about these groups would disappear,’ said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, a senior fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families who routinely analyzes the data. “
“The crisis facing Black women is even deeper. The National Partnership for Women & Families reports that 265,000 Black women have been pushed out of the labor market since January, and the unemployment rate for Black women has climbed to 7.5 percent, which is the highest in years.”
“When you look at the history of how Black people made it into the middle class, some of those stepping stones are the very things that this administration is trying desperately to erode: access to education, access to federal work, workforce opportunities,” Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, tells Women Rule. “Those things were foundational for a lot of Black workers, in part because the private sector was more resistant. We had this deep, entrenched history that shut Black workers out.”
“The lack of access extends beyond small businesses to include workers in the construction fields. Women workers, particularly women of color, face ‘significant obstacles to economic security in large part due to racism, sexism, and discrimination,’ which create barriers to good jobs ‘that pay well, offer quality benefits and support workers’ right to come together in unions,’ according to an analysis from the National Partnership for Women and Families. ”
“Experts like Jocelyn Frye, the president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, an organization that advocates for family policies, know how unaffordable child care can be a stressor for Black families.
“’If you have a high number of moms who are working, then you’re going to need access to care and if you’re asking them to spend almost half their income on childcare, that’s going to not only put pressure on the entire family economically, but it’s going to make it harder for them to afford that care to begin with.’”
“The broader context, says Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families and co-leader of the 75 Million Campaign, is that today’s job losses are less about performance and more about politics.
“’When you lose a job not because of your work but because of a political agenda, it can feel demoralizing,’ Frye told me. ‘And for Black women, particularly Black mothers – more than 80% of whom are the primary breadwinners – it threatens the stability of entire families.’
“She points to the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as both a cause and a consequence.
“’This administration has deployed a different narrative, but the purpose is the same as always: to erode the pathways that allowed Black women even a chance at the middle class,’ Frye told me.”
Her call to action: don’t internalize the systemic failures.
“This is not about individual deficiencies. It’s an ideological agenda. And we must push back—not only to protect jobs, but to protect the progress that got us here in the first place.”
“’Having these cuts is something that’s going to limit that access for a lot of Black women out there, and that’s something that will have a ripple effect on maternal mortality and morbidity,’ said Rolonda Donelson, a reproductive health equity legal fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families.”
“The National Partnership for Women & Families warns that without meaningful DEI protections, these disparities are likely to grow, particularly in workplaces that are no longer accountable to inclusive recruitment and advancement policies.”
“Moreover, as Rolonda Donelson powerfully observed in a recent National Partnership for Women & Families blog post, it is problematic to cast abortion as a legally cognizable source of injury when ‘the truth is that those declines are much more likely caused by the states themselves… and their policy shortcomings.’ Thus, ‘characterizing abortion as a ‘harm’ to the state increases misogyny and refuses to hold states accountable for the failures they have caused by not providing social support to children and families already in existence.'”
Trump-appointed Acting EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas targeted 20 law firms, demanding information about their employment practices, with a focus on each firm’s diversity practices. Lucas’ action seems designed to be an intimidation tactic, without sufficient legal authority.
“‘I think part of the reason that so many of us came to Selma is because we really draw inspiration in people who had no reason really to believe that they could get freedom,’ said Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. ‘They were facing what may have looked like an all-powerful force, but they had a faith and desire to work for something bigger and better, and I think we’re here because we have that same spirit.'”
“Hispanic women in particular illustrate the complexities of this moment. They were the only demographic group of women overall whose wage gap narrowed marginally between 2022 and 2023 in comparison to white men working full time, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by both the National Women’s Law Center and the National Partnership for Women and Families, research and advocacy groups. For Black women and Asian women, the wage gap widened, and for white women, it stayed the same.”
“Anwesha Majumder, an economist at the National Partnership for Women and Families points out that discrimination against women workers, particularly women workers of color, remains ongoing and is a likely leading cause of the gender wage gap.”
This week, the Trump Administration unlawfully attempted to fire two of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s sitting commissioners – Chair Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels. The dismissals are the latest example of blatant overreach beyond existing authority and gross misuse of power by the administration, all in an effort to disrupt vigorous enforcement of employment discrimination laws.
“Critics of the move are concerned that many employers will see Trump’s action as a signal that no longer have to worry about facing penalties from discriminating in their employment practices. ‘Those who have been more reticent and reluctant (to do outreach) will get the message that all bets are off, and you can do whatever you want,’ said Jocelyn Frye, president of National Partnership for Women & Families, a public interest group.”
“The decision not only impacts the federal government and contractors that employ over 3.5 million people. It also mandates that federal agencies identify entities that have such programs and target them for civil enforcement actions. You’re ’empowering agencies to engage in some sort of strange anti-diversity witch hunt,’ Jocelyn Frye, president of the advocacy group National Partnership for Women & Families, told Axios.”
“‘It would significantly erode a civil rights enforcement tool that has been essential, in particular for women’s progress,’ Jocelyn Frye, president of the advocacy group National Partnership for Women & Families, told Axios before Trump’s order was issued.”
“Elections have consequences and sadly we are seeing those in real time under this new Trump administration. The President’s rescinding of the landmark Executive Order 11246 makes clear the emptiness of his campaign promises to create opportunities for everyone, including women, communities of color, and all workers.”
“Latinas represent the largest group of women of color harmed by current or likely state bans, with nearly 6.7 million Latinas living in states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families.”
“A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families shows that Arizona is home to 585,600 Latinas of reproductive age, and nearly half of them are economically insecure — meaning they are living below 200% of the federal poverty line.”
