Business

Census Data pulled from Chutes & Ladders: The Search for Solid Ground for Women in the Workforce.

Click on one of the links below to download a PDF of that state’s Status Report with key data on the status of displaced homemakers and single mothers.

There are currently over one million women in the U.S. criminal justice system. Two hundred thousand of them are confined in state and federal prisons or local jails. Women are the fastest growing group of people in prison. However, the consequences of their convictions far outlast time spent in confinement or on parole. Since the 1990s, various levels of government have created more post-conviction penalties, making it harder for women leaving prison to find employment, education and housing. There are, however, groups who can help.

Challenges
A year after prison, only four in ten women are able to find jobs in the regular labor market.

Employment
In most states, employers can deny jobs to anyone with a criminal record, regardless of work history or how long ago they were
convicted. State laws can also keep past
prisoners from getting licences in different types of professions.

Further Education
All forms of federal tuition assistance are unavailable to a person with a drug conviction,
making further education difficult.
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Women Work!’s monthly electronic newsletter keeps our Network members up-to-date on the critical issues affecting working women. Sign up to receive eNews Works now!

The Project 
Throughout 2007 Women Work! partnered with our state affiliates in New York, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland to implement state-wide education campaigns on financial literacy and individual development accounts (IDAs). With the support and technical assistance of Women Work!, these state affiliate collectively did the following:

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Mentoring has always been a part of the workplace atmosphere for men. As more women enter the workforce, they too are becoming a vital part of the networking and mentoring process. Today, women are seeing more of the positive impacts created by mentoring and networking as they advance in their careers.

Differences Between Networking and Mentoring
Networking is important when you are trying to find a job/career. Everyone has heard: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Networking allows women the opportunity to meet other people (especially women) who have similar professional interests.

Mentors are people with experience who can give advice and help you move up in your field. Mentors are important for women entering the workforce as they can help guide decisions made early on and throughout a woman’s career. While a mentor can be helpful when looking for a job, it also important to find a mentor once you have a job. A mentor can help you to begin looking at career options.

Similarities Between Networking and Mentoring
Relationships are a part of everyone’s life, whether between friends, family members or significant others. (more…)

Women have made great strides toward economic equity over the last several decades. For many women and their families, however, the challenge of achieving economic self-sufficiency remains an uphill battle. Although the majority of families rely on women’s wages to make ends meet, women continue to earn less than men and are nearly twice as likely to be poor as men.

To advance economic opportunities for women and their families, Women Work! strives to promote women’s entry into higher-paying work and help workers balance work and family.

Click here for basic information about women in the workforce.

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The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was designed to increase the employment, retention, earnings and occupational skills of the American workforce by creating a simple yet comprehensive system to meet the needs of all job seekers. But for many unemployed and underemployed women, WIA has not met this commitment. Significant reforms are needed to ensure that the workforce investment system can meet the needs of women who face barriers on the road to economic security.

Women Work! advocates for reforms in WIA to increase women’s access to training for high-skill, high-wage, and nontraditional careers.

Policy Resources

• Coalition on Women and Job Training: Six Steps to a better Job Training System for Women (2006)
• Letter to Senate HELP committee from Women Work! Member Organizations (2003)
• Women Work! Survey of One-Stop Services (2003)

Too many women and their families are living paycheck to paycheck, working in low-paying jobs without benefits and with few prospects for advancement. Over 14 million adult women in the United States live in poverty, while millions more struggle at incomes just above the poverty line.

Women are more likely to be poor than men.

• There are over 14 million adult women in the United States living under the federal poverty line, compared to 9.5 million adult men. Almost 6 million women live in extreme poverty, defined by having an income of less than half of the federal poverty level.¹
• Women are 40 percent more likely to be poor than men. One in eight women is poor, compared to about one in eleven men.²
• Women represent 60 percent of the total number of adults in poverty,³ but only 51 percent of the total adult population.⁴

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Despite their increasing presence in the workforce, women are more likely than men to experience interruptions in their careers. This is due largely to time spent caring for children or elderly family members. Women still face real barriers when re-entering the workforce; many return to less skilled, lower paid positions than those they left.

Women remain much more likely than men to experience career interruptions, largely due to domestic responsibilities.

• One in four women leaves her job around the time of the birth of her first child.¹
  
• Among mothers with children younger than one year old, only 53.8 percent are in the labor force.²
• Caring for an elderly relative is also often the reason for a gap in workforce involvement. Thirty four million adults (16 percent of population) provide care to adults 50+ years.³Women are more likely than men to be family caregivers. Research suggests that between 59 and 75 percent of family caregivers are women.^{4, 5, 6}
• For women, eldercare has a significant impact on advancement at work. One third of caregivers decrease their work hours, 29 percent pass on promotions, training or assignments, 22 percent take a leave of absence, 20 percent switch from full to part time employment, 16 percent quit and thirteen percent retire early.⁷

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Women have an enormous presence in the current workforce in the U.S.

• Women comprised 46 percent of the total U.S. labor force in 2006.¹
• In 2006, there were a record 67 million employed women in the U.S.²
• 70 million women were labor force participants—working or looking for work—in 2006.³
  
• The labor force participation rate for all women was 59.4 percent in 2006.⁴
• The labor force participation rate for mothers is 70.9 percent.⁵
• By race the rates are:
  • Black women 61.7%;
  • White women 59 %;
  • Asian women 58.3 %
  • Hispanic women 56.1%.⁶

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The Voice for Women’s Education and Economic Equity

We Work! is a quarterly magazine sent to Women Work! members.

Summer 2007

In this Issue

Message from the Chair and President Page 4
Woman of Triumph: Danielle Smith Page 5
Work That Fits Page 6
The Issues: Coalitions In The Field  Page 8
Legislator Profile: Edward M. Kennedy Page 9
In The Field: iWorks! Works for Women Page 10
2007 Conference Special Page 12
Employer Spotlight Page 14
Woman to Woman  page 15

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More Education Needed?

Once you’ve chosen a new career direction, decide if you need more education. This might be a six-week adult-ed class in database management or a new degree in early childhood development.

You may have life or work experience that can substitute for formal classes. You’ll have to decide if you know enough for your new opportunity.

Is More Schooling Necessary?

Be sure you really need to return to school before moving in a new direction. Many women find it exhilarating to return to the classroom after time away. The intellectual stimulation may be very welcome after years away from school. And being back on a college campus can feel invigorating after years of being grown up, or it may feel threatening.

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Dear Anne,

As I often say to women I work with, my heart is always first and foremost with the single mothers. Aside from the responsibilities of providing both emotional and financial support to your kids, you are also handling the many difficult child raising questions that plague most parents on your own. Parenting is a tough enough job with two people working on it, so clearly it’s not an easy task for one person.

Many single mothers feel they have to do it all on their own, and are hesitant to ask for help from friends and family members. You haven’t said whether that description fits you, but it’s important to address. What kind of a community do you have around you? Are you close to your family? Do you have close friends who you can count on when you need a listening ear, a carpool, or someone who can pick you up some milk on her run to the store so you don’t have to pack your kids in the car to do that small task?

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Service providers, students, women in transition, citizen advocates and leaders in the women’s community have already added their voices to the chorus. Sign up now and receive up-to-the-minute alerts on policy issues affecting women’s economic justice.