Dear Colleagues,
It’s been a year since the term coined the “she-session” began. Since the dawn of the pandemic, women have left the job force at higher rates than men and have carried much of the burden of the broken childcare system.
Thankfully, women’s funds and gender justice funders have been leading the resourcing, visibility, and cross-sector organizing needed for meaningful change to unequal and unjust systems that led to our current reality. In honor of May Day, a celebration of workers' rights, we wanted to highlight three game changing policy reforms that could overhaul our broken system.
Paid Family and Medical Leave: Paid family and medical leave is essential to gender equality and economic mobility for women by creating a social and economic framework that allows families to accumulate wealth and financial stability. Without paid leave, families lose an estimated $22.5 billion in wages each year. Globally, 42% of women are outside the paid labor force because of unpaid care responsibilities, compared to 6% for men. Studies have also shown that offering paid leave actually saves businesses money in the long run by growing employee retention rates and keeping more women in the labor force. Paid leave has been shown to increase labor force participation and employment-to-population ratios, especially for women.
Affordable Childcare: Affordable childcare is a keystone to creating greater levels of gender equity in the workplace and for building lasting economic mobility for women and their families. Without access, women and girls lose out on opportunities for advancement and get stuck in cycles of poverty.
New mothers who take paid leave are more likely to stay in the workforce and are 54% more likely to report wage increases. A woman who is 50 years or older who leaves the workforce early to care for an aging parent will lose more than $324,000 in wages and retirement.
The average annual cost of childcare in the U.S. is higher than the annual cost of one year of in-state college tuition, forcing women to drop out of the workplace to care for their children. However, research shows that countries with greater supports for childcare have lower gender pay gaps and a more equal distribution of unpaid care work between men and women. Childcare is also essential to supporting girls of color – who also bear the burden of care taking younger siblings.
Raising the federal minimum wage: Raising the federal minimum wage is a key component to lowering the pay gap between men and women. Studies have shown that in countries with higher minimum wages the gaps between men and women’s earnings decrease, and generational cycles of poverty are broken, leading to greater levels of educational attainment and workforce participation.
Historical increases in the federal minimum wage have reduced racial wage gaps by up to 20% within the following years. Decreasing these wage gaps supports families and helps to end cycles of poverty and discrimination based on race and social economic status.
Women make up to 88% of roles where the pay is typically less than $15 per hour in the U.S., compared to 12% for men. Nearly 60% of workers who would get a raise from a federal minimum wage increase in the U.S. are women, compared to 40% for men. Additionally, states with a minimum wage of $10 or more have seen 34% reduction in the gender wage gap, compared to states with a minimum wage of $7.25.
Your Women’s Funding Network stands in solidarity with all the women across the globe who have put themselves at risk on the front lines, sacrificed careers to care for their families, or lost their jobs because of COVID-19. As we recover from this pandemic, we must work together to rebuild a stronger and more equitable economy by centering the voices of these workers and marginalized communities in our recovery efforts.
In solidarity,
Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO
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#WomenFunded’21 is coming!
Please SAVE THE DATE for Thursday, September 23, 2021
We are seeking community input and volunteers to join the 2021 Conference Committee. Please indicate your interest HERE. This committee will work together with WFN staff and event managers to design the virtual gathering this fall.
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On May 13th at 6:30pm EST/3:30pm PST you are invited to join Tuti, Lex and contributors to the guide for a toast and conversation. You can register here.
ICYMI, Moving Money for Impact: A Guide to Gender Lens Investing by Tuti Scott with Lex Schroeder highlights frameworks, insights and solutions at work and in development by changemakers.
The Guide is available for download at Tutiscott.com. Printed copies are available on the Women’s Funding Network website. Read this blog for more context - how it began, its purpose, and its vision for impact.
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We are launching four Peer Communities organized around issues we heard the most interest in from our conversations with you over the last year.
For the following peer communities, please email Jessica Dimas.
• Communications and Development
• Advocacy and Public Policy
• Research
• Equity and Justice learning group
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Women's Funding Network is supporting The Iowa Women's Foundation Building Community Child Care Solutions collaborative, which is an effort to increase access to child care across the state. Check out the story from Business Record here.
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Please welcome The Women’s Fund of Omaha's new executive director, Jo Giles, an experienced policy advocate, nonprofit veteran, and strategic communicator. Jo will lead the organization’s work to address gender-based inequities in the community.
To learn more about Jo joining the team, please click here.
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Please join The Women's Fund of Miami-Dade for their Impact Collaborative panel entitled, Women’s Health and Public Awareness Inspiring Action! This virtual event will have top experts discuss issues and potential solutions related to emerging women’s health issues. To learn more, click here.
May 6, 2021
9:00am-10:30am
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Congratulations to the Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona for helping to pass a crucial bill! House Bill 2016 was passed by the Arizona State Legislature, and was signed by Governor Ducey on April 28, 2021. Moms receiving child care assistance in Arizona will be able to maintain their benefits while working towards their educational goals to reach self-sufficiency. To learn more, click here.
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Join CHANGE Philanthropy for their virtual 2021 Unity Summit, which will host over 1200 participants to expand their individual and institutional practice in order to advance equity with an intersectional lens, and with community at the center of their efforts.
October 25-28, 2021
To learn more, click here.
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OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
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Way to Win is excited to present M3: Media, Math, and Movement. This online event is an opportunity for progressive donors, activists, leaders and creatives to gather and discuss the biggest challenges in persuasion, narrative research, messaging and fighting disinformation in a media landscape that’s changing with dizzying speed.
May 20, 2021
9:00am-2:00pm PDT
Register here.
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For the first time in history, two women sat behind a president during an address to a joint session of Congress: Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Here is what this milestone meant to female lawmakers in Congress.
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Red, White and Blue, an Ohio-based non profit advocacy group that is focused on nudging suburban women towards progress candidates, is launching a national podcast and expanding into other states. - NBC News
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To close the gender investing gap, talk to your young girls. - CNBC
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NBC News is launching a new digital series, "Equal Value," which will highlight women's stories that have been underreported and dig deep on the issues and lives of all women, with a focus on women of color.
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WATCH: Meet Toni Breidinger, the first Arab American woman in NASCAR. "I want to pave the way for others after me."
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Browse the New WFN Website!
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If you have a story to share, email Ellen at
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