•Press Release Economic Crisis and Recovery Inequality Jobs Poverty United States
Washington — Women’s labor force participation rates are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, but a new report released today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that working-class women and mothers are still lagging behind.
To better understand why this group of women are lagging, Financial Struggles of Working-Class Women Reveal Potential for More Robust Family-Friendly Policy Response, by CEPR economist Julie Cai and researcher Joe Peck examine poverty, unstable working hours, and a lack of financial savings, particularly among low-wage, less-educated women and mothers.
Some key findings in the report are:
Federal, state, and local policies can help close the poverty gap, stabilize working hours, and improve the financial health of working-class women and mothers. Long overdue family-friendly policies such as affordable childcare programs and paid leave would address increased poverty rates for women during childbearing years.
Working-class women and mothers suffer disproportionately from the financial insecurity caused by unstable work hours. A child benefit paid out on a monthly basis smooth-out bumpy family economics of low-income or working-class mothers. Creating and enforcing fair work-hour protections promotes financial stability for the working class, particularly parents.
