September 19, 2014
We are used to politicians making bizarre distinctions, but we expect a little better from the NYT. Therefore many readers were probably surprised to see the NYT imply that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not affect women in an article reporting on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaigning for Democratic candidates.
“Democrats in several key Senate races have attempted to shift the debate from President Obama and the Affordable Care Act to issues affecting the key constituency of women, whose votes could sway close races.”
Separating the ACA from issues that affect women is really almost otherworldly, given the importance of health care, especially to mothers of young children. In fact, our analysis of changes in voluntary part-time employment showed a sharp jump in the number of young parents in this category in 2014 compared with 2013. The implication is that many parents of young children prefer to work part-time in order to spend more time with them. The ACA gave them this opportunity since they can now get insurance through Medicaid or the exchanges and therefore are not dependent on employer provided health insurance. Generally workers have to work full-time to qualify for employer provided insurance.
None of the policies that the NYT refers to as affecting women are likely to have as much impact on the lives of most women as the ACA. The Democrats may for whatever reason not want to talk about the ACA, but the NYT should not play along with their silliness.
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