WUNRN
Direct Link to Full 28-Page Report:
USA - WOMEN PARTICULARLY IMPACTED BY
ECONOMIC RECESSION - REPORT
By Nadia Prupis
- October 21, 2010
American women
have been particularly impacted by the recession, according to a White House
report to be released today, which puts forth several measures to combat the
blow. The report, authored by the National Economic Council (NEC), notes that
women have been seeking and gaining employment in increasing numbers in the
past 50 years, making this recent economic hit especially troubling.
The recession has created
an economically unstable future for many Americans, but particularly American
women, the report states. "From day one, President Obama has been
committed to designing and implementing policies to address both the challenges
women face in the wake of the Great Recession and the longer-term challenges
women have faced over the past decades."
According to the NEC
report, because women today make up the majority of college graduates in the
Although men have seen a
greater statistical drop in employment, with a 4.1 percent median annual
earnings decrease, women face additional long-term challenges that affect their
ability to endure the recession and the future economic climate. Among the
obstacles women face are the gender wage gaps and the disproportionately small
representation of women in higher levels of management.
Obama's goals are to "support women in the workforce and help them achieve economic security in retirement," senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said in a press conference call Wednesday. "It is so important that people understand what tools will be available to them to protect themselves."
Marital status, age and
race also compound the issues with which women contend. According to the NEC
report, women who applied for mortgages and credit cards were often vulnerable
to unfair lending practices. "Women are disproportionately disadvantaged,"
Jarrett said. A large number of women seeking to buy homes or apply for credit
cards were saddled with "higher cost loans than were appropriate."
The NEC report details
provisions of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 and
responsibilities of the recently established Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau that will combat these types of predatory lending techniques;
particularly, "the Bureau will prevent evasion of the Credit CARD Act of
2009, which bans arbitrary rate hikes on existing balances and other unfair
practices. For women who have used credit cards to get by when times are tight,
the law will give them clarity on the interest rates they are charged,"
the report states.
The Bureau will also
"for the first time provide ongoing federal oversight of both nonbank
companies and banks in the mortgage market and protect borrowers from unfair,
deceptive or other illegal mortgage lending practices."
The NEC report also
outlines the workplace flexibility, a component of the plan that has garnered
increasing credibility since President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
hosted a forum on the issue last spring. Workplace flexibility can lead to
"increased worker productivity, a better bottom line and help companies
attract and retain the best workers," the NEC report states. Employees
benefit as well because they are not forced to "relinquish other
responsibilities, such as taking care of their families," Jarrett said.
Obama's budget also
proposes a $50 million State Paid Leave Fund at the Department of Labor, which
would provide competitive start-up grants to states that launch paid leave
programs. The program will enable workers to take a hiatus to care for their
families without sacrificing paychecks that are essential to their well-being.
In addition to these
proposals, the NEC report outlines plans to promote Small Business
Administration (SBA) loans, which are three to five times more likely to go to
women and minorities; community college funding, where women comprise 56
percent of students; and the importance of Social Security, as women represent
58 percent of all beneficiaries.
Jarrett specified that the
report's release is not a political move. "We're not going to let the fact
that there's an election coming up keep us from announcing something that's
important to women," Jarrett said. However, she added, "the election
season allows us to show a contract between [President Obama's] agenda and what
he's doing for women and what would happen if the election went the other
way."