Womenstake

Social Security at 75: A Cornerstone of America's Future

by Val Vilott, Outreach Associate
National Women’s Law Center

Our friends at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) released a video today, celebrating Social Security’s 75th Anniversary. This program continues to be a vital lifeline for people of all ages and demographics, but as we've written before, the Social Security system is particularly crucial for the retirement security of women.

Check out the video below, featuring NWLC's own Joan Entmacher, Vice President of Family Economic Security.

Help us protect this enduring foundation for America’s future as we celebrate its 75th anniversary! Sign our petition to protect and strengthen Social Security for years to come.

Is It Just Me, or Was the Civil Rights Movement a Really Big Deal?

by Elizabeth Yates, Program Assistant,
National Women's Law Center

Of course, I didn't teach myself about the Civil Rights Movement. I was lucky enough to receive a sound public education with a social studies curriculum based on historical scholarship, not politicized maneuvering.

Students in Texas, and soon in many other states, may not be so fortunate.

Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D -TX) recently introduced House Resolution 1593, condemning the Texas State Board of Education for discarding the work of teachers and scholars who cooperatively developed state social studies standards and instead adopting revised standards that, many claim, misrepresent U.S. history and are politically and ideologically motivated.  For example, the new standards downplay the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement and de-emphasize historical boundaries between Church and State.

This development in Texas is especially troubling because, as the state is so large, many publishers write all of their textbooks to meet curriculum standards in Texas, with the result that other states have little choice but to conform their curricula as well.

House Resolution 1593 addresses this issue and asks the Texas State Board of Education to ensure that the curriculum standards they set are based on historical scholarship, and to recognize that every student deserves an education that is inclusive of their personal culture, history and background.

The struggles of women and minorities are ongoing. How can our future leaders address their generations' challenges without an accurate and comprehensive understanding of our nation's history?

Educational Equity and Reproductive Justice: Latina Week of Action

by Micole Allekotte, Health Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

This post is the second in a series about the intersections between reproductive justice and other social justice movements.

This week is Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice, organized by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. The groups are coordinating their efforts to enhance the voice of the Latina reproductive justice movement.

The reproductive justice movement supports individuals' rights to have the children they want, raise the children they have, and plan their families through education and access to contraception and abortion. Reproductive justice can only be achieved when all people have the resources, as well as the economic, social, and political power to make decisions about their relationships, health, and reproduction, so fighting for reproductive justice requires fighting for social justice.

Cut Cake, Not Benefits: Social Security is 75 Years Young and Still Going Strong

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

This Saturday, August 14, is the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act. It was President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the bill into law, but it was Frances Perkins, the first woman in the Cabinet, who made it happen. If you have a couple of minutes this weekend, you can mark the occasion by reading  (or listening to) her speech in 1960 commemorating the 25th anniversary. She reminisced about heading the Committee on Economic Security that worked to design Social Security in the depths of the Great Depression, without a budget, computers—or air conditioning, in sweltering Washington, D.C.

The creation of Social Security in 1935 was an extraordinary achievement—and over the years, it's gotten even better for women and their families. Today, Social Security provides at least half of the income of a majority of women 65 and older. For three out of ten elderly single women and women of color, Social Security is virtually their only source of income. And Social Security isn't just a retirement program; it provides disability and life insurance benefits for young families and does more to alleviate child poverty than any other federal program.

And the really good news is that Social Security can keep going strong and do even more to provide economic security for women and their families for the next 75 years. But policy makers must reject cuts to vital Social Security benefits.

"Happy" One Year Anniversary to Two of President Obama's Judicial Nominees

by Rachel Peck, Fellow, 
National Women's Law Center

While we are still celebrating Elena Kagan's confirmation as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, another milestone occurred last week that we are less happy about. Last Friday marked the one-year anniversary of two of President Obama's federal judicial nominations: Jane Stranch, to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Ed Chen, to the Northern District of California. 

So much has happened over the last year—health care reform was passed, Spain won the World Cup tournament, 4.1 million barrels of oil spilled in the Gulf, the movie Avatar was released after 10 years in development—but after 365 long days, these two nominees are still waiting for a Senate vote. And these two nominees unfortunately have plenty of company. Although four judges were confirmed last night before the Senate went into recess and an agreement was reached to give Jane Stranch a vote when the Senate comes back in September, 20 other nominees are still waiting for a vote. To add insult to injury, Republicans insisted that the White House renominate Ed Chen, along with a number of others (including Professor Goodwin Liu, nominated to the Ninth Circuit). This means that the Judiciary Committee needs to take another vote, and creates the potential for more pointless delays. 

Right now there are more than 100 vacancies in the federal judiciary, and more than 40 of these vacancies are considered judicial emergencies. We can't allow this delay to occur anymore. Citizens are being forced to wait for justice while Senators try to score political points. We urge the Senate to take action on the 19 pending nominees in September—so that we do not have to "celebrate" any more one-year anniversaries. 

Rising to Protect Abortion Care for the Most Vulnerable Women

by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights, 
National Women's Law Center

Recently, we told you about how the Administration indicated the intention to apply an abortion coverage ban (or what is in effect the rejected Stupak Amendment) to the newly unveiled pre-existing condition health insurance plans. This ban would prevent women with serious pre-existing medical conditions from getting the abortion coverage they need to protect their health—and will not even allow women the ability to pay for such coverage with their own private premium dollars.

Over 5,000 NWLC supporters took action and called on the Administration to reconsider the decision to exclude the abortion coverage ban in the pre-existing condition health insurance plans. The strong reaction from women's advocates brought great attention to the issue, with prominent articles in national newspapers.

Thank you for your incredible participation and making sure the Administration knows how important including abortion care coverage is in health care reform. We will soon be asking you to send in your comments on the regulation.

In the meantime, NWLC will continue to work to keep you informed about the latest on health care reform that meets the needs of women and their families. And we will continue to work hard to ensure that all women have access to comprehensive reproductive health that includes abortion care.

Unemployment Among Single Mothers, Women of Color at Highest Level Since Recession Began

by Jasmine Tucker, Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

Stories about the July jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics generally noted that the unemployment rate stayed at 9.5 percent (slightly up for all women, slightly down for all men), 131,000 jobs were lost, and 14.6 million Americans, about the same number as in June, were unemployed. That news is grim enough—but when we went deeper into the data, we found even more alarming trends for women.

Unemployment for women who head families shot up to 13.4 percent in July from 12.1 percent in June. This marks the highest unemployment rate for this particularly vulnerable group since the recession began in December 2007 and the highest rate in over 25 years.

Unemployment among African-American women jumped from 11.8 percent in June to 12.9 percent in July. The situation was similar for Hispanic women, whose unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 12.1 percent in July, marking this group's highest unemployment rate since 1986.

Congratulations Justice Kagan

by Rachel Peck, Fellow, 
National Women's Law Center

It's official! Elena Kagan is now an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. She was sworn in on Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts and becomes the fourth woman to have ever served on the Supreme Court. Now that the confirmation process is behind her, she can begin preparing for the next Supreme Court term which will begin in October. 

Your New Healthcare: A Closer Look at Some Major Improvements

by Brigette Courtot, Policy Analyst,
and Zoe Bartholomay, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

Until now, access to basic, necessary care has been limited for too many women. However, the new health reform law provides a remedy with provisions that ensure that insurance plans cover the health services women need, without cost barriers.

Our new law provides a national standard for health benefits called the "essential health benefits package". All new individual and small group health plans must meet the standard, meaning they must cover several benefits that have often been been difficult or impossible for women to acquire (especially in individual health plans). These include maternity, mental health, and prescription drug coverage.

Billionaire Investment Managers Stick Poor Families with the Tab for Medicaid and Education Assistance

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Last week, the Senate finally passed a measure extending enhanced Medicaid and education funding for states and localities. The aid is urgently needed to protect women's health, women's jobs, and services that women and their families depend upon. The House is coming back from recess to vote on the measure tomorrow.

But this critical assistance comes at a painful and unnecessary price. While part of the $26 billion increase in aid to states and localities is funded by closing international tax loopholes (raising $9.6 billion in revenues), the main way the bill is paid for is by cutting $11.9 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly Food Stamps) for low-income families. These cuts mean that in 2014, SNAP benefits will drop by about $59 a month for a family of four.

This isn't happening because everyone is being asked to sacrifice to get through tough times. It's because billionaire investment fund managers successfully persuaded a minority of Senators to block any attempt to make them pay taxes on their earnings at the same rate as ordinary mortals.