Economic Downturn Hits Women the Hardest

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 -- Women are being disproportionately affected by the U.S. mortgage crisis and economic plunge, said a panel of women leaders Wednesday, urging a strong woman-focused response from the federal government.

In Rhode Island, the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country, one woman has not been able to find a job for the past eight months and is losing her house to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Another, struggling to take care of her 14-year-old granddaughter because her own daughter is in jail, is a tenant in a building that is being foreclosed. She is being evicted by the bank, even though she is willing to pay rent.

These women's stories, told by Sara Mersha, the executive director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) in Rhode Island, are part of what she calls the "economic Katrina."

Mersha spoke along with other women's rights advocates at a teleconference sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women called, "Lifted Up or Left Out? Economic Stimulus Policy that Benefits Low-Income Women." The experts discussed the challenges facing women in the United States today and policies that could make a difference.

Mersha said the current sub-prime mortgage crisis is similar to the 2005 hurricane not only in terms of scale -- the number of people affected -- but also who is being hit the hardest. She said that in Rhode Island, most of the foreclosures and evictions are happening in poor communities and neighborhoods with African-American or Latino residents. DARE is doing a local research study concerning the crisis. While visiting homes being foreclosed, Mersha noticed another disturbing trend: "There are disproportionate numbers of women behind those doors," she said.

The effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on women are exacerbated by other, pre-existing problems, according to the panelists. Sara Gould, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation, said that out of the 37 million Americans living in poverty, 27 million are women and children. In fact, she added, single mothers and their families are more likely to live in poverty than any other demographic group in the United States.

Panelists agreed that there is not an adequate support system to help these women living in poverty. Fully two thirds of the minimum wage and below-minimum wage workforce in the United States are women, said Gould. For many of these workers, the laws are inadequate to protect their rights.

Ai-jen Poo, a lead organizer and founder of Domestic Workers United in New York City, advocates on behalf of a huge low-wage workforce: domestic workers. Ai-jen said that in the city, 200,000 women are employed as domestic workers.