Women

Spotlight on Poverty's Weekly Round-Up

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty LogoThe latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 11/12/2010: A comprehensive look at the lives of homeless women across America.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with the Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty. Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here’s this week’s news:

•    The Associated Press reports that officials at northern Kentucky’s only homeless shelter for women say that they are concerned about the facility’s future due to strains from a large increase in demand coupled with a decrease in revenues.

•   Ventura County Star covers highlights from the League of Women Voters’ Forum on Homelessness: Issues and Myths, which included actors portraying homeless women and their families.

•    The Chicago Tribune profiles Family Rescue, a shelter located on the city’s Southeast Side that has provided shelter and support primarily to women with children who are victims of domestic violence since 1981; Family Rescue targets survivors of violence and helps them find a more secure future as well as housing.

To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org

To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity team

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Voted StickerIn today’s rundown: Early voting begins in Maryland. | Ahead of the midterm elections, the Obama Administration releases a new policy paper on women and the economy. | And food stamp usage among working families has skyrocketed.

— Early voting is underway in Maryland.  Voting centers throughout the state are open through October 28.  For details about times and locations visit the state board of elections website.

— “As one of its closing arguments before the midterm elections, the Obama administration is highlighting the impact its economic policies have had on women,” reports The New York Times. The article goes on to highlight some of the findings in the 32-page policy paper.

— Food stamp usage in the U.S. has jumped 70 percent since 2007, according to The Huffington Post. More than one in eight Americans uses food stamps.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: A new study links poverty to depression among mothers. | Efforts to narrow the racial achievement gap in D.C. public schools stall. | D.C.’s first woman varsity football coach takes to the field tonight for Coolidge High’s season opener.

— More than half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers who show symptoms of mild to severe depression, according to a new study from the Urban Institute, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner.  The study found that just 30 percent of depressed low-income mothers of infants spoke to a professional about a mental health problem during the year before the survey was conducted.  Click here for more.

–“After two years of progress, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s effort to narrow the vast achievement gap separating white and African American students in D.C. public schools has stalled,” reports The Washington Post after analyzing 2010 test score data.

— Coolidge Senior High School’s football team is preparing for their first game under new coach Natalie Randolph.  Randolph is believed to be just the second woman in history to lead a high school varsity football team.  Coolidge opens the season tonight at home against Carroll.  Click here for details.

The Daily Rundown — Women's Equality Day Edition

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Suffragettes,_New_York_Times,_1921Today, we’re celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage — on this date in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was certified, giving women the right to vote.  The fight for suffrage was first organized in 1848, when women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott started campaigning at the state and federal levels following the Seneca Falls Convention.

Suffrage bills were brought before Congress beginning in 1915, but never passed the House and Senate until June 4, 1919.  The amendment then needed 36 states to ratify it.  Tennessee became the 36th in the summer of 1920, and women around the country were able to vote in that November’s presidential election for the first time.  Despite the accomplishments of the suffrage movement, it would be another 45 years before the 24th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 secured the full enfranchisement of all Americans regardless of sex, race or economic status.

Here are a few of the events going on in our area that commemorate Women’s Equality Day:

The Sewell-Belmont House & Museum has launched an online archive honoring inspirational women.

Ain’t I a Woman: A Complicated Story of Women’s Suffrage in Black and White
Tonight at 7:00 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives
Click here for more details.

The League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia will hold an all day rally in front of the White House to draw attention to the lack of full voting representation and autonomy for D.C. residents.  Women and men are invited to join participants anytime at Lafayette Park.  Demonstrators are encouraged to wear white.  D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will address the group this morning.

Photo credit: New York Times via Creative Commons

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

For Sale SignIn today’s rundown: Why D.C. needs to change the affordable housing law.  |  Test results show that a disparity in education in Arlington has created two-tier public education system.  |  And honoring the women who shaped history in Montgomery County.

— Washington, DC needs to change the affordable housing law to promote homeownership, writes Shiv Newaldass in The Washington Post. Newaldass — the director of advocacy at Manna, Inc. (a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner) — adds that promoting homeownership is “the most fundamental way of addressing the asset disparity in the District.”

— New standardized test results released last week by the Virginia Department of Education show widespread disparity in public education in Arlington. Hispanic and black students and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were among the student groups that failed to meet federal standards for English or math.  According to the Arlington Connection, the “disparity creates a two-tier system of public education in Arlington….”

— A free booklet that highlights the achievements of women who shaped Rockville’s history and heritage has been released in Montgomery County.  The booklet’s publication coincides with the 90th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day on August 26.  Click here for details on the booklet and where it’s available.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: A grantee pushes for more affordable housing in Montgomery County. | A free health clinic opens its doors for the day in D.C. | A look at working moms and their places in the workforce. | The nine Cs of women’s philanthropy.

— CASA de Maryland, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, is pushing Montgomery County leaders for laws that would keep rent from rising in Silver Spring near the planned light rail Purple Line.  A large number of Hispanic residents live in the neighborhood around the planned construction area.  The Washington Examiner has obtained a letter that CASA wrote to Montgomery County officials warning them that soaring housing prices would displace residents.

— A number of D.C.’s 57,000 residents who don’t have health insurance will be able to get free medical care today at the Washington Convention Center.  Doors to D.C.’s largest free clinic open at 11 a.m.  Patients wi’ll be offered free cholesterol tests, EKGs, diabetes testing and HIV tests.

— In the next decade, 30 million women will benefit from the new healthcare reform law, according to a brief issued by the Commonwealth Fund.  The brief reports that the law will stabilize and reverse health care costs that had been on the rise because insurance industry standards had assessed women as more high-risk than men.

— “Women do almost as well as men today, as long as they don’t have children.”  The New York Times takes a look at men, women and being a parent in the workforce.

— With women earning and controlling more money than ever before, Women & Co. takes a look at women’s philanthropy and the nine Cs of women’s giving.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: A Grantee Partner testifies about the unique challenges formerly incarcerated women in D.C. face.  The same Grantee Partner — Our Place DC — also discusses how the female condom could empower women.  And tax holidays for back-t0-school shopping are coming up in Maryland and Virginia.

— Earlier this week, Ashley McSwain, the executive director of Our Place DC — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — testified before a House subcommittee at a hearing called “Federal D.C. Code Felons: Unique Challenges in Prison and at Home.”  Our Place DC helps formerly and currently incarcerated women return home from prison.  Click here to watch a webcast of the hearing.

— Our Place DC was also featured in a WAMU story about the efforts to hand out 500,000 female condoms in D.C. by the end of the year. In the story, Ashley McSwain talks about why the female condom gives women more control over their sex lives.

— Shoppers in Maryland and Virginia will be getting a tax break — just in time for back-to-school shopping.  From August 8-14 in Maryland, clothing under $100 will be tax exempt.  And August 6-8 will be a sales tax holiday on some school supplies and clothing in Virginia.  Click here for more details.

A Super Tuesday for Women Politicians

Posted on by Gwen Rubinstein

4 women candidatesWomen won several high-profile races on Tuesday at both the state and national levels.  I am celebrating these victories, even for women whose politics and positions I don’t share.

When was the last political “year of the woman”? 1992.  We are past overdue.

Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in elected positions at all levels of government.  According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, women hold 16.8 percent of all seats in the current Congress (both the House and the Senate), and the percent of women holding statewide elective office actually decreased to 22.9 percent in 2010 from a high of 27.6 percent in 1999.

Compare both of these to the percent of American adults who are women: 51.3 percent, as of July 1, 2008, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

These numbers have to change.

Increasing the number of women officeholders could and should have many benefits, among them higher priority placed on women’s right, health care and children and families, according to research, again, by the Center for American Women and Politics .

Thinking about this also reminded me of a profile I am reading of Esther Duflo in the May 17th issue of The New Yorker. Duflo, a rising star professor of development economics at MIT, created an innovative approach to randomized studies of social and public health policy strategies. After studying quotas for women village leaders in India, she concluded: Any community that starts considering women candidates for the first time doubles the size of its leadership pool and should expect policy benefits and economic gains.

Here’s wishing it happens here!

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending April 2, 2010)

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Pregnant Woman_WSJThe latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity.  This week: Why extreme poverty can lead to pregnancy problems…. Plus, cuts could be made to a monthly stipend that former Florida foster children depend on.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.  Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here’s this week’s news:

  • The Wall Street Journal reports that women facing difficult circumstances and stress, including extreme poverty, have a higher risk of problems during pregnancy.
  • The Los Angeles Times interviews several low-income immigrant women who miscarried or gave birth to children with birth defects, problems that they attribute to a nearby polluted dump in rural Kettlemen City.
  • The South Florida Sun-Sentinel profiles 21-year-old student Tamarra Lestage.  Lestage would be homeless if not for a monthly stipend given to former foster children, a program which may be cut due to Florida’s budget crunch.
  • The Portland Press Herald highlights the opening of Florence House, a $7.9 million facility that will house 40 homeless women in apartments or semi-private bedrooms.
  • Seven months after being fired from the Hyatt in Boston, Lucine Williams and almost 60 other mostly female former housekeepers still struggle to find work, according to the Boston Globe.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.”  It’s a section of the Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.  Along with these daily updates, continue to visit Washington Area Women’s Foundation for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.  To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Photo credit: Stephen Maturen for the Wall Street Journal

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Hopkins CheckIn today’s rundown: A Grantee Partner receives a huge check as part of a workforce development project in Virginia | Maryland’s child support guidelines may be overhauled for the first time in two decades | “Are We There Yet?” — a look a gender discrimination at work

— Hopkins House — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — was recently awarded a giant check — both in size and amount.  The $250,000 check was presented by Rep. Jim Moran.  The money will fund Hopkins House’s Early Childhood Learning Institute, which will help 100 low-income adults earn a Child Development Associate credential and 31 credits toward a college degree.  Click here for more details.

— An overhaul of child support guidelines is on the jam-packed agenda of Maryland lawmakers, who have three weeks to wrap up the current legislative session.  If the bill is passed, it would be the first major change to the child support guidelines since 1989.  It would change the schedule used by courts to determine child support obligations and would be updated to reflect the realities of the current economy.  Many noncustodial parents would end up paying more.  Click here to read the details of the legislation.

— Three young, women journalists at Newsweek are taking a look at sexism in the workplace, comparing their experiences to those of a group of women who sued the magazine for gender discrimination in 1970.  Click here to find out what’s changed and what hasn’t.

Photo credit: Local Kicks