Women Request Voice in Budget Talks
Written by Carol Carter Thursday, June 09 2011
A task force of women has written to President Barack Obama requesting consideration of the concerns of women during the budget talks on reducing the deficit. The group asked for the inclusion – on the White House advisory team regarding deficit spending – of members of the administration with expertise on women’s issues
“It is simply not enough to send a few privileged men to the table to ‘solve’ the nation’s budget problem,” states the letter sent by The Older Women’s Economic Security (OWES) Task Force, part of the National Coalition of Women’s Organizations (NCWO). The letter asked that Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius be added to the advisory team.
“Under the guise of reducing the deficit,” said National Organization for Women President Terry O’Neill, “conservatives in Congress have set their sights on cutting programs that disproportionately employ and serve women. Who will stand up for the millions of women who rely on these programs? Leaving it to the men is not the answer. Women must play a critical role in these negotiations.”
The meeting has consisted of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.); U.S. Sens. John Kyl (R-Ariz.), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Max Baucus (D-Mont.,); and Reps. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who have convened for the budget negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Budge Director Jack Lew, and economic adviser Gene Sperling.
In 2009, Social Security helped more than 14 million Americans 65 and older stay above the poverty line, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). Without access to Social Security, 58 percent of women and 48 percent of men above the age of 75 would be living below the poverty line.
The gender wage gap is an ongoing economic hurdle for women, who have lower median earnings than men in 107 out of 111 occupations, regardless of levels of education, according to the IWPR.
In part, the letter stated, “While men have recovered 24 percent of the jobs they lost during the recession, women have recovered only 14 percent of the jobs they lost. Single mothers and women of color are particularly at risk; their unemployment rates remain in the double digits.”
The letter was signed by representatives of 15 organizations including NOW, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, Dialogue on Diversity, and the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
The NCWO is composed of more than 200 women’s organizations representing more than 12 million American women. The OWES Task Force studies, monitors, and acts to enhance older women’s economic security.
Carol Carter was a founding staff member of Atlanta Business Chronicle in 1978. During her 18-year tenure, she served as editor not only of the Chronicle but also of seven Chronicle special publications including the award-winning Counterpart, a magazine for Atlanta businesswomen; ChopTalk, official magazine of the Atlanta Braves; and Atlanta Now, which serves the Atlanta convention and visitors industry.
Carter is the author of Junior Dragster Dreams: How Sam Found His Own Ride, the first only children’s novel about junior drag racing. She also wrote Hope & Healing, the 125-year history of Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta. She was an on-air reporter in Atlanta for WXIA-TV’s Noonday show for two years and was writer and editor of the Optical Data School Media team that produced award-winning videos for classroom use. Carter is an alumnus of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
