By Dr. Carmen Schaye, NWPC Vice President of Diversity

We are living through unprecedented events. The U.S. has stopped working. Many states are beginning to open with limitations and restrictions under the knowledge that there is no vaccine or cure. With a reduction in work schedules, furloughs, a rise in unemployment, and homeschooling, women are challenged as never before in recent history. On April 23rd the United States lawmakers completed a record-breaking $2.3 trillion stimulus package, aiming to support an economy ravaged by unemployment, caused by the Coronavirus. This enormous figure dwarfs 2009’s $831 billion stimulus package as well as FDR’s famous ‘New Deal’ ($41.3 billion, in the 1930s, equating to $653 billion after inflation.) This package included billions of dollars for struggling small businesses, a boost for unemployment, and a number included something never seen before: a $1,200 payout to every American taxpayer earning $75k per year or under. Chuck Schumer stood on the Capitol steps and promised “this is only the beginning.” Only the beginning? How much more has America got? The answer is, of course, plenty. The U.S. is the richest country in the world by some considerable distance and would not be undertaking this drastic spending if the alternative were not far more expensive. With America’s circulation of production and consumption suddenly stopped, the race to get the country on life-support began. There were a lot of challenges made to the money (cash) given to lower-income families. A responsible Congress knew that money would be the only act that would soften the blow of this economic catastrophe entangled by a health crisis and a national lockdown.

With so much money being spent so quickly, many in Congress have raised the issue of accountability. The issue is that only 5% of small businesses received money during round 1 of the Paycheck Protection Plan out of 60% that applied. This affects women since 11.6 million firms are women-owned. The $350 billion fund had run dry only a week after its launch, as large multi-national corporations used loopholes and the advantage of lack of oversight to go after funds for small businesses. Common citizens were outraged and began social shaming through social media which forced companies like Ruth Chris to return 20 million dollars in forgivable federal loans and the multi-national fast-food outlet ‘Shake Shack’ to repay $10 million it received from the Paycheck Protection Program among others.  Even with a payout of $1200, to individual Americans earning $75,000 or less. The money falls noticeably short in a time of mounting expenses due to COVID. Women heads of households bear the brunt of responsibility. With 33% of single women heads of household and 69% or cohabitating women bringing in 25 to 80% or more of the family income, we see that the expectations of women are that they are expected to fill the livelihood gap. The United States has the highest rate of children living in single-parent households with 40% of all women having children born out of wedlock (2018). Women of Color are much more likely to be single heads of household with up to 70% (depending on ethnic group) of all births are to unmarried mothers

(Child Trends, 2018). In 2018, Statista reports, there were over 15 million families in the U.S. with single women at their head.

The point is that, even with such vast sums, the money is not always getting where it is needed. The Stimulus Act and  $1200 almost a month ago is hardly enough to help women who are facing such enormous economic challenges. The steady rise in food insecurity has increased in the U.S. especially in families with young children. Food insecurity is higher now than during the Great Recession in 2008 (COVID-19 Impact Survey of Mothers and Young Children – April 2020). Women are feeling the effects more than men as children look to the woman for nutrition and nurturing. With schools closed, childcare is even more difficult to come by, homeschooling falls on the mothers more than the fathers. Economic pressures in married or cohabitating homes are creating more acrimonious situations leading to a rise in domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse.  With women already doing, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), 4 hours of unpaid work per day, at home (compared to 2.5 for men,) women are feeling physical and emotional exhaustion. This recent increase in domestic pressure is not being spread evenly. The existing gender pay gap means that, in the majority of two-parent households, men have a higher income. Women, therefore, are more likely to have their careers sidelined, their finances diminished due to reduction in hours, work from home, or by the increased demands of childcare and homeschooling. This “cycle of despair…is sending women back to the 1950s,” according to Dori Howard, the founder of a women’s co-working space in LA ( The Jane Club). 

All over the country, women are being put in an impossible position. Those who have jobs that can be done from home must now juggle jobs, childcare, and housework. Those who still go out to work; on whom we rely to go to work if our society is to avoid total breakdown; are in an even more difficult position. A third of working women are employed in the “front line” industries, healthcare, and social care. Many frontline workers are women of color. They must work and care for their children.   These are the majority of “essential workers” who care, social distance, and quarantine when possible and bear, on average, a heavier share of the burden of care for elderly relatives, the sick, and others on the job or at home. Black and Hispanic women are much less likely to be able to telework.  The ability to work from home differs enormously by race and ethnicity.  Therefore, many women of color are working on-site while their children are being homeschooled by older siblings or extended family members (Economic Policy Institute, March 2020). The Coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fact that day to day, America relies on mothers working miracles. Most middle-class Americans do not understand the struggles or the high risk of lower-paid essential workers. In many instances Hispanic workers are not eligible for health insurance, unemployment insurance, assets or any type of retirement. These women are working in public, crowding together without safety gear. Hispanic women have a disproportionately higher incidence of contracting the virus since they work in low paying jobs that require them to leave home and interact with the public without PPE. Women of Color are paying a higher price in contracting the virus and dying.

Rep. Katie Porter, a freshman Democrat from California, herself a single mother to three children has been a strong advocate for women in the AGE OF COVID. Last month Ms. Porter was faced with the challenge of self-quarantining after virus exposure, educating-from-home three children of different grades, while also participating in creating the historic bill that will bring financial support to so many. It is vital that more women like her are represented in government. Rep. Porter is translating this experience into a push for political action. She has called for an increase in the proportion of the stimulus package going to single parents as well as increasing the amount employees can put in tax-free “dependent care” accounts. 

  Now more than ever, the world needs leaders who understand the pressures women face and are prepared to legislate on their behalf like Katie Porter. If we do not generate such great female leadership during these pandemic women will be pushed to the margins by increased societal pressures and much of the progress of the last fifty years will be undone.

On Friday May 17, 2020, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats passed another 3 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan which included second-round direct payments to millions of Americans. The Bill faces pushback from Senate. Future Bills might show direct payments allocated to women with children as the hardship of the pandemic accumulates. Unemployment will run out in many homes by mid-summer, many are delinquent in mortgage and behind in rent payments. Some families are relying on Food Banks for supplementary groceries. With no vaccine on the horizon or cure of this highly contagious disease, women are facing extreme hardship. Only direct cash grants and economic development will alleviate an upcoming economic disaster. The Senate’s attitude reinforces time and time again that when we experience the most difficult economic crises the plight of the most vulnerable gets discounted.

Nancy Pelosi stated, “It’s always interesting to me to see how much patience some people have with the pain and suffering of other people”.  Pelosi articulates the sentiments of women and families.  She is the embodiment of empathy. We know that it is the gender lens that creates deep understanding … It Takes a Woman.  © Dr. Carmen Schaye