Women's Economic Security Campaign Launches
New report finds need for increased supports for women in male-dominated green-sector occupations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2009
CONTACT:
Amy Saltzman, (301)656-0348
Ami Nagle, (919)493-4393
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new collaboration of women’s foundations launched a major campaign today calling on policy makers, advocates and philanthropy to address the struggles faced by low-income women as a central component of efforts to rebuild our country’s economy.
“Our nation is facing a tremendous economic crisis and the crisis is hitting low-income female workers particularly hard,” said Shante Avant, grants, program and volunteer director of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, in her opening remarks at an on-line forum marking the launch of the Women’s Economic Security Campaign (WESC). Avant, a founding member of WESC, added that good jobs for women are “not only critical for family economic stability; they are a key component of lasting economic recovery for our nation.”
The event included the release of Creating Opportunity for Low-Income Women in the Green Economy -- the campaign’s first in a series of policy briefs focusing on strategies that will lead to greater economic security for low-income women and their families.
The report notes that the recession has taken a significant toll on low-income women. In September, 11.6 percent of low-income single mothers were unemployed, compared with 11 percent of men overall and 7.4 percent of married men. In 2008, 37.2 percent of female-headed families with children were living in poverty compared with just 8 percent of families with both parents in the home and 14 percent of male-headed families.
Although women now make up half of the workforce, most women are stuck in low-paying dead-end jobs that can’t support a family. The emerging green jobs sector presents a rare opportunity for women to get in on the ground floor of a new industry and learn the skills necessary to compete for what promise to be more stable, higher-paying jobs, according to the policy brief.
Unfortunately most green jobs, from weatherizing homes and buildings to constructing wind turbines, are in fields that have typically been dominated by men. Creating Opportunity for Low-Income Women in the Green Economy lays out the need for a comprehensive effort to use new funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other federal sources to address barriers to training and placing women in green occupations. The report notes that these new funding sources offer a chance to “finally address the obstacles and inequities that for too long have prevented more women from entering non-traditional fields.”
It calls our country’s track record in training, placing and supporting women in well-paying nontraditional jobs “unacceptable,” pointing out, for example, that just 0.5 percent of roofers and 1.4 percent of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters are women. Even at the higher end, women make up just 10.6 percent of civil engineers. The median hourly wage for roofers, at the low-end of the non-traditional job spectrum, is $16.17 an hour – enough to cover the basic needs of a small family. By contrast, preschool teachers, 98 percent of whom are women, earn just $11.48 an hour. At that wage, a preschool teacher would need to work over 25 more hours per week than a roofer to support a similar living standard.
Speaking at an on-line forum on the report, Joan Kuriansky, executive director of Wider Opportunities for Women, said that if women are to benefit from the new green economy, programs and policies must be put in place that help them overcome historical barriers to non-traditional jobs. These include work supports such as child care, flexible hours and accessible transportation and enforcement of anti-discrimination and harassment policies, according to Kuriansky.
Kuriansky said that climate change legislation currently being debated in the Senate should include provisions to expand training and employment opportunities for women, and called for additional policy efforts that ensure more federal funding is targeted to preparing women for non-traditional jobs. She cited new legislation that is expected to be introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) – the Women WIN Jobs Act – that would significantly expand funding for programs in every state that train women for green sector and other non-traditional jobs.
Megan Uzzell, acting assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), also speaking at the policy forum, said the agency is committed to opening up the green jobs sector to women and minorities who have historically been left out of non-traditional jobs. She noted that DOL’s Women’s Bureau has been hosting green jobs roundtables across the country and is actively involved in raising awareness so that “women know they can be part of green economy.”
Finally, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green for All, noted that the focus of all these efforts needs to be not simply on green jobs, but on green collar occupations that will propel women up a career ladder. “These jobs provide us with the opportunity to end the cycle of poverty for millions of women and millions of families,” she said.
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The Women’s Economic Security Campaign is a joint effort created by four regionally diverse women’s funds -- Chicago Foundation for Women, Washington Area Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of California and the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis. Working in collaboration with the Women’s Funding Network, a global network of women’s foundations, WESC seeks to harness the voice and power of women’s foundations nationwide to improve the lives of low-income women. For more information on WESC visit www.womenseconomicsecurity.org
