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This month's #JobsReport drops at the beginning of #BlackHistoryMonth – so we took a close look at how Black women are faring. And it's pretty clear that while Black women have done a lot for the economy, the economy – and policymakers – need to do a lot more for Black women.

What, exactly, is going on with the economy these days? On one hand, there are headlines about an impending recession and on the other hand the unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in decades. Rents are declining a bit, but still up hugely over the last year. And what about the cost of eggs?!

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual data on union members in the United States, showing small declines in the rate of union membership over the last year. Our analysis shows that while unions raise wages – especially for women – far too few workers were able to access their benefits in 2022.

The most recent #JobsDay data show the strength of the economy in 2022. But the data also show that labor force participation remains below pre-pandemic levels for many groups of women, with Black women and Latinas suffering the largest declines between February 2020 and December 2022 of 1.9 and 1.8 percentage points, respectively.

Vasu Reddy, Senior Policy Counsel for Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, recently briefed Open to All Corporate Partners on the National Partnership's latest report, entitled "Partnership in Action: A Guide to Building Gender Equity in the Workplace." The guide serves as an introduction to the policies and benefits companies can implement to help women, especially women of color, return to the workforce.

December 8th marks one day that does not merit the large family gatherings, endless servings of pasteles washed down with glasses of coquito, and other winter holiday traditions practiced by many Latine households: Latina Equal Pay Day.

In honor of Halloween – and thanks to our newly released report on pregnancy discrimination — here are a few #ScaryStats on the issue:

No-Cost Preventive Services in Danger
In Braidwood Management, Judge O'Connor ruled unconstitutional a key provision of the ACA preventive health services requirement. This would undermine access to cost-free coverage for chronic disease screenings, cancer screenings, and vaccinations that over 150 million people benefit from.

Public policy has the power to set women and families up for success, and new data released by the Census Bureau yesterday provide a critical look at where our country stands on the issues that matter most in determining just how successful they are. The data, which look at poverty, health insurance, and income in the United States, make clear that policy makers have unfinished business to take care of to make sure women and families have all the supports they need to live healthy and secure lives.

Well, it's Moms' Equal Pay Day again. All the way in September. That's right – a typical mother would have to work nine additional months into 2022 just to be paid what fathers made in 2021. And wow, has it been a tough nine months for moms in the United States.

When a young Rohingya woman touched down in New York in 2018, she thought she had finally reached safety – the end to an arduous lifelong journey of fleeing persecution without much choice. [...] "Getting an abortion had a financial cost to it, but now that cost has essentially tripled," said Rachna Khare, the executive director of Daya, a Houston-area survivors organization.

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has harmed millions of people across the nation, impeding their access to abortion, disrupting their economic futures, and putting their health and even their lives at risk. The impact of this decision is particularly harmful for women of color, who are less likely to have insurance, and face economic barriers to accessing abortion.

States that have enacted abortion restrictions or bans are doing little to "support the health and economic security of pregnant and birthing people and their families," according to a new report from the National Partnership for Women & Families first shared with Axios.

"Cheered by a decisive win for abortion rights in a Kansas vote and eyeing November midterm elections, the White House is launching a push for abortion access that aims to influence men as well as women, sources with direct knowledge told Reuters."

Ethical shopping is one of the most significant ways in which economic justice can be shown to the LGBTQ+ community, and is not something that should be limited to the month of June. Consider these ethical shopping practices to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community, especially LGBTQ+ workers, are placed at the forefront of your shopping cart.

Two years ago today, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the landmark case, Bostock v. Clayton County, which ruled that that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. While many LGBTQ+ advocates celebrated this decision as a monumental step forward, the question remains whether the lived experiences of real people have truly changed for the better since the ruling.

Acknowledging the unique wage gap between white men and AANHPI women is more important than ever, and forces us to take a closer look at the many myths and barriers in the way of achieving pay equity for AANHPI women in particular.

Why observe Equal Pay Day, year after year, if it's such a bummer? Because the wage gap is a way of talking about the tangible consequences that sexism and racism in our economy have on women. And it touches so many women year after year, no matter their occupation, education level or age.

Paid family and medical leave is an indispensable benefit that all working people need and deserve.

Black and brown people in D.C. have seen some of the worst racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths and vaccinations in the country. At the same time, the national economic fallout of the pandemic hit communities of color the hardest: people of color, particularly women, disproportionately worked in industries hit by pandemic-related closures, layoffs and reduced hours. And that is on top of the longstanding health and economic racial disparities that already existed before the pandemic.