ISSUES

Women

Progress

The President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included a number of provisions of particular concern to women:

  • To help working mothers and fathers obtain quality child care, the Act includes an additional $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, $1 billion for Head Start, and $1.1 billion for Early Head Start.
  • The Act also boosts family incomes by expanding the Child Tax Credit to cover an additional 10 million children in working families and creating a new Make Work Pay tax credit.
  • The Act also includes unemployment insurance reforms that will particularly benefit women, such as incentives for states to cover part-time workers and those who recently reentered the workforce.

The President signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families.

Guiding Principles

Ensure Economic Security

Our society has made tremendous progress in eradicating barriers to women’s success. Women make up a growing share of our workforce, and more women are corporate executives and business owners than ever before. Today, women are serving at the highest levels of all branches of our Government.

Despite this progress, certain inequalities persist. The income for the typical American woman is still only about 78 cents for every dollar of the median income for the typical man, and women are still significantly underrepresented in the science, engineering, and technology fields.

President Obama believes that women have a right to receive equal pay for equal work.

Promote Work-family Balance

Millions of women and men face the challenge of trying to balance the demands of their jobs and the needs of their families. Too often, caring for a child or an aging parent puts a strain on a career or even leads to job loss. President Obama believes we need flexible work policies, such as paid sick leave, so that working women and men do not have to choose between their jobs and meeting the needs of their families.

Support Reproductive Choice

President Obama has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and believes in preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade. At the same time, he respects those who disagree with him. The President believes we must all come together to help reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion.

Prevent Violence Against Women

Violence against women and girls remains a global epidemic. The Violence Against Women Act, originally authored by Vice President Biden, plays a key role in helping communities and law enforcement combat domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. At home and abroad, President Obama will work to promote policies that seek to eradicate violence against women.

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