Economic Justice
NOW advocates for a wide range of economic justice issues, all of which limit women’s freedom and success. These include welfare reform, livable wages, paid sick leave, job discrimination, pay equity, financial literacy, and more. We know that these issues impact women of color at much higher rates and that economic justice is intertwined with racial justice, reproductive freedom, and our other core issues.
Watch the video below to understand why.
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Blog
Education or Criminalization?
By Nairi Azaryan, Communications Intern A pipeline is a human made structure, moving substance swiftly and uninterrupted from point A to B. The school to prison pipeline does just that, sending young children of color, disproportionately girls, from sc Read more...Allies in Equality—Him and Her for Each Other
By Leora Lihach, President’s Office Intern As the millennial generation begins to take center stage in the world, the feminist movement is at risk of severely slowing down. Too many young adults believe that feminism is off-limits to men and a dangerou Read more...“Leaning in” won’t liberate us
The term “lean in” has been used fairly regularly in feminist discourse. It originated in a book published by Sheryl Sandberg that discusses factors that hold women back in the workforce and how women, she says, often hold themselves back. And I largel Read more...News
Latina Equal Pay Day: How Employers Can Close the Pay Gap
According to Nunes equal pay “isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the best investment we can make”. Read more...NOW Pushes for Equality on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day
09/21/2022 WASHINGTON— NOW recognizes Black Women’s Equal Pay Day and the need for transformative change that addresses the gender and racial inequalities that economically plague Black women. Black women are the backbone of our workforce but are often Read more … Read more...On Equal Pay Day, NOW Commits to the Push for Economic Justice
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today is Equal Pay Day, a stark reminder of how far into the year women must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year. White women working full time in the U.S. make 83 cents for every dollar made by white men: that add Read more … Read more...Narrowing of state, U.S. gender wage gaps slow; may widen post-pandemic
“Women earn 83 cents on the dollar, but really that breaks down when we happen to look at race,” said Christian F. Nunes, president at the National Organization for Women. “It’s really a white woman earning 83 cents on the white man’s dollar.” Read more...Resources
ISSUE ADVISORY: Good News: Obama Pushes for Higher Overtime Pay Threshold, Guaranteeing Millions Higher Wages
Moving Toward Economic Equity – A long standing injustice soon could be rectified. Recently, President Obama announced a rule change to increase the salary threshold at which employers may exempt workers from overtime pay (for work beyond 40 hours per week) from $23,660 up to $50,440, starting in 2016. This is welcomed news for those of us that value fair pay as it would enable five million more workers to gain access to the overtime pay they deserve, but have been cheated out of it for decades. Their loss in income is due to efforts by conservative political leaders and business lobbyists who have kept the salary threshold that is subject to the overtime pay requirement unfairly low. The five million are part of a total 11 million workers who would be newly guaranteed overtime pay if the rule change is adopted. Importantly, women constitute a majority of workers in this group.
ISSUE ADVISORY: Free Trade and Feminism – How the TPP Will Hurt Women
The U.S. House of Representatives delivered a stunning blow against the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Pact, a massive “free” trade agreement that has been negotiated in secret by large multinational corporations over recent years and which promises to be every bit as damaging as past agreements.
Fact Sheet: How the TPP will Hurt Women
Women already earn less due to a lifetime of gender-based pay discrimination and often struggle to support their families on limited incomes. The Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP, a massive trade agreement with Pacific Rim nations will be soon be voted on by Congress. The agreement – like many others before it – will likely result in lower wages for U.S. workers. Undoubtedly, women stand to lose the most if the TPP is adopted.
Supreme Court Pregnancy Discrimination Case: Young v UPS
Peggy Young, a former employee of UPS, became pregnant in 2006 and was instructed by her doctor to not lift more than 20 pounds. Her normal duties at UPS, consisting mostly of delivering letters, very rarely required her to lift anything heavier than 20 pounds. However, UPS forced her to take unpaid leave as she was “too much of a liability” and she had to go without her employer-sponsored health insurance while pregnant. Other employees, those with disabilities, people with on-the-job injuries and even employees who had lost their commercial drivers’ licenses as a result of DUI convictions, received “light duty,” which was an accommodation UPS refused to provide Peggy Young.