Economic Downturn Hits Women the Hardest

By Brittany Schell, One World. Posted November 28, 2008.

She told the story of a woman who worked for a family for three years before she was called and told not to come to work the next day. She was replaced by someone who would work for half the amount she had been paid. Without notice and with no severance pay, this woman was left to figure out how to put food on the table for her own four children.

Ai-jen said she gets calls like this every day from women wondering what their rights are. The truth is, she said, there are no laws in the domestic work sector concerning severance pay or notice.

"There is no safety net," she said. "We're realizing that 25,000 jobs lost at Lehman Brothers means 25,000 jobs in jeopardy for domestic workers."

Nancy Duff Campbell, co-president of the National Women's Law Center in Washington, DC, said the creation of a safety net begins with an economic stimulus package. The first stimulus package, released in February, had very little effect, Campbell said, but the new ideas being proposed by Democrats may help build long-term solutions.

According to Campbell, the essential elements of a "safety net" would include an extension of unemployment benefits and more funding to support programs that many women depend on. 

Campbell emphasized that unemployment benefits should not just be extended, but also expanded to cover more people. This would help all those who have lost jobs in the economic crisis, many of whom are women. Campbell said this is an opportunity to push for better unemployment compensation for part-time and low-wage workers.

Campbell said another element that should be included in the economic stimulus package is money to increase food-stamp benefits, WIC benefits for low-income women and children, and other programs to help people cope with rising food costs. Most of the beneficiaries of these programs are women and their children, said Campbell.

The package should also help states that are suffering in the economic crisis. For example, Campbell said, if the federal government funds a larger share of the Medicaid program, it takes some of the burden off state budgets and prevents cuts in other state programs on which many women depend, like child care.

Mersha said that even half the money devoted to the $700 billion government bailout for banks could have a huge impact on housing, jobs, health care, education, and other social programs that would benefit women and communities.

The government should focus on increased investment in programs that "prevent folks from being in a situation where they have nowhere else to turn," said Mersha. "We need a fundamental shift in our priorities."

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