WOMEN WEARY AS ECONOMY REMAINS LUKEWARM 
Women’s Progress Depends on Economic Progress

Wismer: “Under Obama's watch, a smaller percentage of women are working or even looking for work than when he was elected…”


 *** FACT SHEET: How the Economic Situation Affects Women ***


(Washington, D.C.) – In the second-to-last jobs report before the November election the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced the U.S. added 114,000 jobs and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.8 percent in September. Yet, the number of involuntary part-time workers has increased to by 600,000 to 8.6 million and 802,000 Americans are no longer looking for work. So is the economy really getting better?

Emily Wismer, policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum, said:

These latest numbers may look better, but it’s more evidence that our economic waters remain lukewarm. Today 802,000 American people, discouraged and weary, have quit looking for work. Though the standard unemployment rate dropped, overall unemployment remained stagnant: 14.7 percent of the population would like fulltime work and cannot find it. This economy is neither pro-women or pro-men – more and more Americans are dropping out of the workforce.

One reason the unemployment rate edged down to 7.8 percent in September is that 600,000 more people took part time work because they could not find a full time job, for a total of 8.6 million Americans.

Under Obama's watch, a smaller percentage of women are working or even looking for work than when he was elected — a clear sign that the president's 'big spend, fund your friends' economic policies hurt women. Over the course of President Obama’s tenure 92 percent of jobs lost belonged to women. Fewer opportunities for women to work is not the "hope" the President promised.

What’s most important is that we restore our economic strength through fiscal discipline, sound energy policies and educational freedom. Women’s economic success and quality of life is strongly tied to economic growth and prosperity.

Women consistently rank the economy as the most important issue facing the nation. It’s important to know what this statistic means and how the economic situation affects women. IWF's new fact sheet on women and the economy answers these questions:

How have women fared in the recession's recovery? 
Is the unemployment rate reflective of women's ability to secure work?
What can be done to improve women's employment opportunities?

Independent Women's Forum is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) research and educational institution dedicated to expanding the conservative coalition, both by increasing the number of women who understand and value the benefits of limited government, personal liberty, and free markets, and by countering those who seek to ever expand government in the name of protecting women.