Talking Points - Lake County Women's Financial Empowerment Event

	U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau

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November 4, 2008 DOL Home > Women's Bureau > Speeches > Talking Points - Lake County Women's Financial Empowerment Event

Talking Points – Lake County Women’s Financial Empowerment Event
Mundelein , IL
Friday, November 4, 2005

I am so proud to be the first Asian American woman to be Director of the Women’s Bureau in its 85 year history! (HORSE STORY)

This is a story of women in my generation. Thanks to President George W. Bush and my boss, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, you are watching the transformation of a woman from no beef to lots of beef! Secretary Chao is a great believer in pulling minorities and women along with her as she climbs the ladder of success. Thanks to her, 50% of all PASs (presidential appointees with Senate approval) at the Department of Labor are women!

It is wonderful to be back home. In many ways, I feel like my financial life began right here in Lake County. Lake County is where I came as a young woman with my husband KC and two young boys. The single most important financial decision I made in my life was to buy a house here in Riverwoods. President Bush says that when you own a house, you have a stake in that community. What a wonderful community Riverwoods is!

The second most important event on my way to financial security was that my husband kicked me out of the kitchen! I was a stay-at-home mom when my boys were young, and I even tried to cook fancy meals. I soon learned that cooking was not my strength - I kept breaking dishes and glasses in the kitchen! My husband suggested that I find something to do outside of the kitchen. So I went out and found a job. I joined the millions of working women who have become part of America’s two income families. I did not imagine myself working when I was growing up, but I soon found I loved it.

The third event that made a difference in my financial independence was the opportunity to work for two outstanding Republican Governors of Illinois – Governor Jim Thompson and Governor Jim Edgar. Under Governors Thompson and Edgar, I managed two cabinet agencies and learned a lot about labor/management issues, fiscal integrity, and human resources capacity building. These critical skills enable me to do my job today.

Women will account for 55% of the increase in total labor force growth from 2002-2012, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections.

There are 65 million employed women. The largest percentage of employed women (38%) work in management, professional, and related occupations, while 35% work in sales and office occupations, and 20% in service occupations.

More than 28 percent of U.S. businesses are owned by women, according to preliminary information from the Census Bureau’s 2002 Survey of Business Owners.

Between 1997 and 2002, the number of women-owned firms grew 20% while the number of all U.S. firms grew 10%. So women-owned firms grew twice as fast as all U.S. firms.

As Director of the Women's Bureau I will continue to do all that I can to empower women to be competitive in the 21st century economy. Thanks to my wonderful Women's Bureau staff who I have been working with for the last 4 years, the Women's Bureau is a place for:

(1) Best ideas

(2) Innovative Programs; and

(3) Technology driven on-line learning programs, with 600 dedicated mentors and 300 value-added partners.

(4) Results-driven/Outcome oriented

(5) Replications

In fact, our e-mentoring programs are competing for the Innovations in American Government Award from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Those programs are:

GEM-SET : an e-mentoring project encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology

High-tech jobs are driving the U.S. economy. Nearly every existing or newly created job has some type of high-tech component associated with it.
GEM-SET links 300 volunteer women mentors in 47 SET fields with 1,365 girls ages 13-18 through email and a website
GEM-SET targeted 41 states and D.C.
165 partners helped implement GEM-SET
The University of Illinois at Chicago manages the project
GEM-SET features an online Q&A daily digest with questions from girls answered by mentors
“How-to” Manual and Archive of Questions and Answers is available through website
6 million website hit

GEM-Nursing : a web-based project using e-mentoring to encourage students to explore nursing careers

Of the 30 occupations projected to have the fastest growth, 15 are health-related and 7 are computer-related.
Rapid growth in the health-related occupations reflects an aging population that requires more health care/services; a wealthier population that can afford better/more health care; and medical advances that allow for more aggressive treatment of ailments.
GEM-Nursing links volunteer nurse mentors from 18 disciplines with students ages 15 to 21 through email and a website
Features an online Q&A weekly digest with questions from project participants answered by mentors
Provides information about career opportunities and sources of financial aid
935 participants from 30 states
261 volunteer mentors
79 partnering organizations
Over 209,500 hits to the website
National partner: The University of Michigan School of Nursing

Wi$e Up: a financial security and retirement savings project for Generation X women

One in four American workers is seriously stressed about their personal financial situation (USA Today)
Up to 80% of financially stressed workers spend time at their jobs dealing with or worrying about money issues (USA Today)
Money worries are linked to greater absenteeism and lower productivity (USA Today)
Just under half (47%) of wage and salaried women participated in a pension plan as of June 2000 (BLS)
99% of women will be economically responsible for themselves or their families at some point in their lives (BLS)
Most women who retire at age 55 can expect to live another 27 years – four years longer than the average for men who retire at the same age (BLS)
This web-based and classroom-based curriculum covers savings, investing, budgeting, insurance, credit and debt, and retirement planning
Features volunteer mentors answering questions via a moderated listserv
Monthly teleconference calls feature experts in financial planning; the calls are recorded and posted on the website
1,071 participants enrolled in classroom and online components
17 teleconference calls featuring financial experts
98 financial professional mentor participants
43 partners, including associations, colleges, universities, and community-based organization
Nearly 50,000 hits to the website
Texas A&M University is our national partner, and State Farm is our corporate sponsor.

In addition, we have the following program:

Working Women in Transition (WWIT): pilot project connecting women making a transition in their work lives with resources that will help ensure their success.

uses “high tech” and “high touch” approach
website offering tailored employment resources
participants will have access to online mentors and distance learning opportunities
4 participating regions: Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, and Arkansas.
The Women’s Bureau website address is www.dol.gov/wb

In conclusion, I would like to echo the YWCA mission. The YWCA believes that a woman who is able to be economically self-sufficient is a woman who brings strength to her family.