Women's Economic Empowerment

Working women make up almost half of the American labor force and serve as primary breadwinners in over 40 percent of American households. In addition, a growing percentage of working women are mothers, and for the 14.5 million children who live with mother-only households, these women serve a significant economic role for these children. Yet women still have no guarantee of equal pay for equal work.

Women must be able to make their own economic decisions, including whether and when to have children. For parents balancing work and family, that delicate equilibrium is possible only with affordable childcare, workplace flexibility, and paid family and medical leave, as well as reliable health care. Today, the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without a minimum standard of paid family or medical leave. It is past time to giving working families this critical tool.

That is why I continue to fight for measures such as the FAMILY Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act that would make women’s economic equality a reality in this country. I have also sponsored the Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act this Congress in order to guarantee 12 weeks of paid family leave for federal employees in all instances covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and I remain a dedicated champion to codifying the Equal Rights Amendment.