Legislative Issues: National Association of Commissions for Women

National Association of Commissions for Women
Legislative Issues as of October 2006

Work and Family

NACW favors expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to help working people make ends meet when they take unpaid time off for family medical emergencies or to care for new babies.

The bipartisan Family Leave Commission found that nearly two-thirds of employees who needed but did not take leave in 1994/95, cited lost wages
as the reason why they did not.

Implement laws and policies that decrease the financial hardship of unpaid leave for working families.

NACW urges government leadership in establishing public/private partnerships to assist families in meeting elder care responsibilities.

More than half of Americans (54%) say they will probably be responsible for the care of an elderly parent or relative in the next ten years.

Enact laws, policies, programs and services that recognize and support the emerging elder care challenges facing families, and particularly women.

NACW recommends creative and immediate actions to increase the availability and affordability of childcare and after school programs that support the needs of children and working parents.

Seventy-eight percent of mothers with school age children work outside the home. Sixty-three percent of mothers with children under six work outside the home.

Develop model policies for government and business that support the complex lives of women as they strive to perform well on the job, earn enough to support their families and provide care for their children and elder relatives.

Legislative Issues / Violence Against Women and Children

NACW urges employers to recognize that domestic violence does not stay at home when victims go to work.

Domestic violence can interfere with a woman¹s ability to get, keep or perform a job and cost employers billions a year in absenteeism, health care costs, productivity and employee turnover.

Promote the development of workplace policies that ensure that workplaces across America are supportive of the needs of employees who are facing domestic violence.

NACW urges support for laws and policies that ensure that workplaces across America are supportive of the needs of employees who are facing domestic violence.

It is estimated that 175,000 days per year are missed from paid work due to domestic violence.

Develop and implement laws and policies that allow victims of domestic violence leave from work to enforce legal protections.

NACW encourages intervention and prevention to help save children from violence at home and at school.

Children deserve to live in homes and attend schools that are free of violence.

Promote the development of programs and strategies that help children reject violence in their homes, their schools, and their communities.

Womens Health

NACW encourages and supports health promotion and disease prevention policies and initiatives targeting women.

Fifty percent of premature deaths in the United States can be prevented through preventive services as well as behavior change ‹ prevention is integral to the general health and well being of all Americans.

Increase health promotion and disease prevention initiatives aimed at women on such matters as teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol addiction, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes and various forms of cancer.

NACW advocates for the elimination of economic, employment, social and cultural barriers to health care for women.

Women who live in poverty or have less than a high school education have shorter life spans, higher rates of illness, disability, and death, and more limited access to high quality health care services.

Strengthen policies and increase funding for programs that improve access, and eliminate economic, employment, social and cultural barriers to adequate health care (including preventive care).

NACW advocates for the integration of reproductive health services into any health care system available to Americans.

Women of childbearing age (15 - 44) pay sixty-eight percent more in out-of-pocket health care costs than their male counterparts.

Require all group health insurance and health insurers to cover prescriptive contraceptive drugs and devices if such plans provide benefits for other outpatient prescriptive drugs and devices.

Economic Equity

NACW supports pay equity and equal pay for women and minorities.

Pay equity means that wages are based on job requirements such as skills, effort, and responsibility without consideration of race, sex, or ethnicity.

Encourage the implementation of a pay equity policy including a job evaluation system that reviews and compares the education, skills, and experience needed to perform different jobs.

NACW encouraged the passage of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 1999 (S. 192 and H.R. 325), the federal law increasing minimum wage to $6.15 by January 1, 2001.

The majority of minimum wage earners are women! Women need more in order to meet current obligations and move toward self-sufficiency.

Enact laws that increase minimum wage to help end the cycle of poverty for women and their families.

NACW supports social security reform that reduces poverty among older women.

Social Security benefits provide a safety net for many women. Without the benefits, more than fifty-two percent of all elderly women would be destitute.

Support social security reform that strengthens financing while protecting women and improving benefits to reduce poverty among older women.

Civil Rights

NACW supports affirmative action as a tool for improving equity and equality in opportunities and wages for women and minorities.

Families depend on the wages of women. Fifty-five percent of employed women provide half or more of the household income. Eighteen percent provide all.

Defend affirmative action and other mechanisms that eradicate vestiges of discriminatory policies and practices and open job opportunities to qualified women and minorities, and opportunities for financial security for them and their families.

NACW urges the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to immediately hold hearings and that the Senate ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

CEDAW is an international bill of rights for women that aims to eliminate discrimination against women in the enjoyment of all civil, political, economic and cultural rights.

Protect the credibility of the United States as a leading advocate for human rights by ratifying the Convention. Several state legislatures have endorsed ratification.

NACW supports equity in education including access to technology for women and girls, especially those in urban and rural communities.

It is estimated that by the year 2010, sixty-five percent of jobs will require technology skills.

Support the Educating America¹s Girls Act of 1999 (S 1264/HR 2505) that among other important issues, requires schools to consider the different learning needs of girls in technology.