CAWA: Regional Reports

Report prepared by:
Sandra Sohcot & Sonia Melara, Women's Leadership Alliance (WLA)

Many of our laws, policies, and government programs are based upon the following long-standing assumptions about family structure and life roles;

• Traditional marriages between men and women take place early in life, and last until death of one or both partners.
• Women are the primary caregivers in the family, for both their children and aging parents, and this caregiver role does not warrant compensation.
• Men are expected to earn the household living, and their earnings are sufficient to take care of all their family needs. Men are not expected to play an active role in taking care of their children or aging parents.
• The male heads of household will always make sure their wives and families are taken care of.
• Men work for the same company for their entire career, and that company will provide pension funds to support their retirement.
• Upon retirement, the savings accumulated by the male wage-earner, combined with the pension fund, and Social Security benefits, will provide sufficient funds to provide a comfortable living through retirement, for both the wage-earner and his wife.
• The average life expectancy is about 75 years.

Current conditions and facts belie these assumptions. Yet policies, legislation, and programs have not been adequately restructured or safeguarded, as needed to enable women and men to share the responsibilities of taking care of their families, and to enable women to be self-sufficient, healthy, safe, financially secure, and equally participative in social, economic and political activities.

With a goal to develop a national agenda to integrate women's equal participation in all aspects of society, the Women's Leadership Alliance (WLA) has developed position papers for five issue areas:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• Pay Equity
• Choice
• Social Security
• Access to Health Care

The five issue areas have a common focus--economic security. We believe that economic security is the underlying foundation that enables women to:

• Support themselves through their chosen professions and careers rather than relying on others or government support
• Fully care for themselves and their families--their children, partners, and parents
• Live a long life without fear of poverty
• Participate fully in the political process as policy makers and civic leaders

CEDAW is an international human rights treaty that provides a universal definition of discrimination against women and brings attention to a whole range of issues concerning women's human rights. Countries that ratify CEDAW are mandated to condemn all forms of discrimination against women and girls and ensure equality for women and girls in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural arenas. The United States is the only industrialized nation that has not yet ratified CEDAW. Ratification of CEDAW at the local, state and national level would provide the legal basis for public policy and legislation supporting women's equal access, to readily address such areas as pay equity, family leave, and health care access.

As we enter the 21st century, with a booming economy and bounding optimism about long-term opportunities for expansion, women are still paid less than men. The inequity occurs in two dimensions--women earn 73% of what men earn in the same jobs, and jobs historically held by women still pay lower salaries to both men and women, than comparable jobs historically and typically held by men.

The Social Security program has become a central topic in political debate with a number of proposals made to privatize the system. Social Security was established to guarantee benefits to all workers upon their retirement to insure that people could live independently as they aged, without fear of abject poverty. Women, who generally live longer than men, and who have typically earned less than men, thereby reducing their ability to amass enough wealth to support their retirement, depend on Social Security for long-term economic security.

Access to health care is vital to all citizens. Women are the primary consumers of health care services given their proportion of the population and their role as primary caregivers in our society. Policies and regulations affecting access to adequate health care must recognize the needs of all women across all economic sectors and address the current barriers to access.

A woman's right to make decisions about her body, and specifically her reproductive cycle, is basic to overall empowerment. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun stated that the rights provided by Roe v. Wade were necessary for the full emancipation of women.

WLA's position papers provide the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue with policy makers, political candidates, the media, and citizens and to take collective action to establish a national agenda supporting the equal participation of women and men across all aspects of our society.