Blue Stocking Salon on Women in Poverty Summary – 1/27/18

Fayetteville NOW’s Young Feminist Committee hosted their 3rd Blue Stocking Salon on January 27th, 2018. The topic of women in poverty drew the largest group yet! We discussed various studies and their results, personal experiences with social safety nets and anti-poverty activism as well as what we could do after the salon to act on what we learned.

The first point discussed was an analysis that estimated that if the wage gap was resolved, the number of women in poverty would decrease by half, what an astounding possibility asserted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research! We wondered if they studied the wage gap by comparing men and women in the exact same job or if they compared across similar job responsibilities, and concluded that while comparing the exact same job would yield more exact results, using the undervaluing of ‘women’s work’ instead of individual discrimination as a comparison tool is still effective.

Women In Poverty In America Data from National Women’s Law Center, Picture from Equal Means Equal

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EME making rounds at NC College Campuses in Sept. 2017

College women today still need to worry about major issues – safety on and off campus, being treated fairly, being paid fairly, health care coverage, and what happens when they decide to have children. Many don’t realize that the only right guaranteed for women in the Constitution is the right to vote. Even today.

We recognize the continued struggle for women to gain full constitutional inclusion in American society. We are sure that the fix for these and other problems is through the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). We’re spreading the word about the problems that women face by bringing the documentary “Equal Means Equal” to the big screen at college campuses around NC from Sept 10-17. Look for your campus showing at http://www.nc4era.org/campus-movies-sept-10-17.html

Alfonso: What I Learned Volunteering with NC NOW

As of March 10th I’ve stood in press conference, helped fold newsletters for NOW NC, and I have also helped Gailya Paliga, President of NC NOW, with several things she needed done around her office. I learned more in the 10 1/2 hours with President Paliga about the functions of an organization such as NOW than I can imagine I would’ve learned over the course of a semester in a class room.

Photo Credit: Sen. Floyd McKissick

While standing in at a #15in5 press conference (raise the minimum wage), I heard a single mother of one child speak, and then I heard single mother of four who had been homeless for a while. That mom worked at Bojangles for 2.5 years and only makes $8 an hour now. I was unaware of the struggles of single mothers, and learned so much during their time speaking. For a split second I felt a microscopic portion of what they felt on a day to day basis. The struggles these women go through everyday is because the minimum wage is not enough to provide for even a single person to live off.

National Followup to Women’s Marches – action and education!

Now that women (and men) have found their voices, we need to use them to influence the future of the United States at the hands of the new administration. We need to let everyone know that it wasn’t an isolated event! We need to keep pressure on Congress and the US Senate.

Women’s March On Raleigh, 1/21/17. Photo Credit: Ashley P.

House and Senate Republicans are going on a joint “retreat” this Wednesday (1/25/17) to Friday (1./27/17) “to sort our their priorities ” and they need to hear from you a.s.a.p.  Send them off to their party’s discussions reeling from the calls to their DC and state offices.  

Are you worried about health care and need to keep Obamacare in place? Read So What Would Happen If We Repealed Obamacare, The Hill, 1/4/17, to give you some ideas why it matters.

Employment Situation of Women in Wake County – On The Record!

By Sarah Moncelle

On Feb 1, 2016, the Wake County Commission for Women (WCCW) released the State of Employment for Women in Wake County, a wide-ranging and informative report that tracks and evaluates the current condition of Wake County women in the work force. In addition to assessing the level of income disparity between the sexes, the study identifies and investigates the barriers to access job-seeking women face when entering and re-entering the labor market. It further provides an overview of programs that exist to assist women in overcoming such impediments and offers a set of recommendations to reduce their effect.

The report reveals a significant income gap (almost 30%) between the sexes despite similar levels of education; currently, the median earnings for females over 25 in Wake County are more than $15,000 less than that of males. Holding true to wider trends at the state and national levels, this gap is even wider for women of color;