Earlier this month, we attended the webinar “Beyond Surviving to Thriving: Building a Gender Equitable Economy Based on Womens’ Lived Experience,” hosted by Asset Funders Network (AFN). This engaging event highlighted “Women in the Economy,” a two-year research and action project that shows the continued troubling statistics facing women, especially single mothers in terms of gender economic inequality in our economy.
Out of the 1,224 women surveyed for the project, 37% were single mothers and 2 out of 3 women surveyed had household incomes of less than $50,000. In addition, 4 out of 5 surveyed women feel economically insecure. While these figures are challenging, the project also proposed 10 solutions that we at WANDA are inspired by:
- Flexible work schedules
- The option to work remotely
- Paid family leave
- Affordable and accessible childcare
- Public and employer support to help workers cover rising housing, energy, health, transportation, food and other everyday expenses
- Raising the minimum wage
- Raising income and asset limits in public benefit programs so more families can access them
- Teach women and girls – in schools, community, churches, etc – about how to be financially independent and why it matters
- Close the gender pay gap
- Promoting women into leadership roles at work
Through our curriculum on financial literacy, career advancement, and life skills, WANDA is working to solve the challenges that many women face every day. Thank you to AFN for hosting this insightful webinar and ultimately championing for all women to achieve their full potential. Learn more about the project >>