No one needs Washington to tell them times are tough. But the Mortgage Banker’s Association released a report yesterday that reveals more people are struggling to make ends meet.

While Congress is on vacation and the President is touring the country, the economy is still struggling and conflicted. Last week’s encouraging news that home prices are on the upswing was overshadowed yesterday by a report that more homeowners are delinquent on their mortgages for the first time in a whole year. More and more people have been unable to make payments on their homes, what should be a sure sign to Congress families are still struggling.

The Mortgage Banker’s Association reports that more people are delinquent because of the upswing in unemployment, which rose last month to 8.3 percent.

Nearly 6 million women are currently unemployed and seeking a job. What’s more, 80,000 more women are looking for work than last month. Can you imagine 80,000 more women seeking jobs?

According to a report by the Association of Realtors, more women own homes than men: 20 percent of homebuyers are single women, 64 percent married couples, and 10 percent single men. Arguably, the health of the housing market is directly related to the wellness of women nationwide.

So while Washington goes on break and Congress stalls until post election to pass any bills, women are struggling to make payments on their homes and cannot find work. There’s no lack of talk, but leaders in Washington have yet to act. Job creators are frozen and need certainty: certainty they can do business fairly without government picking winners and losers through bailouts or regulations that put other businesses at an unfair advantage; certainty regarding their future tax contributions; and certainty energy prices will maintain a reasonable level of stability in the future.