Nationwide study: Not easy being a woman in Alabama
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research recently completed a comprehensive state-by-state survey on the economic and political status of women and it did not portray Alabama in a flattering light. The state received grades of “D” and below in each of the six chapters of the study, which included categories such as “Employment & Earnings, “Reproductive Rights,” and “Political Participation.” In the area of “Poverty & Opportunity,” for instance, Alabama received a D-minus. While the statistics show the proportion of women entrepreneurs here is higher than the national average — 28.1 percent compared to 53.5 percent of men, good for 19th in the country — low ranks in rates of health insurance (32nd), educational attainment (46th) and percentage of women who live under the poverty line (46th) dragged down the overall grade severely. The most controversial aspect of the study focused on access to abortion providers, which the Institute sees as an indicator of sexual and reproductive freedom, a view that many Alabamians, including many women, would disagree with. Nonetheless, the state was docked in a big way for the following aspects of its body politic, among others: the state’s parental notification and consent laws with regard to abortion, the mandatory waiting period before one is available, a generally pro-life governor and legislature, and a minority of women (41 percent) who live in counties where abortion providers offer their services. The highest marks the IWPR gave the Yellowhammer state were for “Work & Family” — the state’s relatively low gender gap is workforce participation among those with young children (20.9 percent fewer women than men in that category work) and high “Child Care Index,” which measures access and affordability, buoyed the state’s rankings, edging it past Mississippi, Arkansas, Idaho and West Virginia. Other select Alabama findings from the 2015 study: 31.5 percent of employed women work in low-wage jobs Men are 2.4 times more likely to work in a STEM field Women earn 76 cents on the dollar compared to men in the state 14 percent of women have diabetes, as well as 13.6 percent of men The state ranked 51st in mental health: women reported 5.6 days of ill mental health per month Heart disease remains a major problem: 184.3 women per one hundred thousand, and 281.8 men, die per annum of the malady.
DHS, DOL refuse to investigate lawmaker claims of abuse in visa program for specialty workers
A second federal agency has refused to look into claims that companies are using a popular visa program to displace American workers with cheap labor, ALToday.com has learned. In early April, a bipartisan group of senators led by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin had urged the departments of Justice, Labor, and Homeland Security to investigate alleged abuses of the H-1B visa program. On April 23, a DOL official responded stating that the agency “lacks a basis to initiate an investigation.” The Department of Homeland Security issued a response late last week saying that the agency would not be pursuing an investigation of the H-1B program. The H-1B program allows employers to hire immigrant workers with highly specialized knowledge or education. Information from the Department of Labor website says that the program is intended to help companies that can’t find American workers with needed skills. The senators claimed to have gotten reports that at least one large company, Southern California Edison, was using the program to replace and undercut wages for American workers. “The U.S. is graduating twice as many STEM students each year as find jobs in those fields, yet the H-1B program continues to provide IT companies with a large annual supply of lower-wage guest workers to hire in place of more qualified Americans,” Senators Session and Durbin said in a joint news release. “There is no ‘shortage’ of talented Americans, only a shortage of officials willing to protect them.” According to reports by the Los Angeles Times, Southern California Edison officials deny that they are seeking to displace U.S. workers, and have vowed to “cooperate with any investigation” initiated by the senators. The DHS response to the senators’ letter came from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez. Rodriguez wrote, “… it would be premature for USCIS to speculate as to whether Southern California Edison’s participation in the H-1B program has violated any laws. If facts come to our attention that indicate violations have occurred, USCIS will take appropriate action to maintain the integrity of our programs.” In a prepared statement, the senators said they were “disappointed” with the DHS response. “We did not ask for speculation; we asked for an investigation, and an explanation of any legal obstacles to conducting such an investigation.” Meanwhile, applications for the temporary visa program reached their congressionally mandated limit for the third year in a row, CNBC reported. According to that same story, USCIS began accepting 2016 applications in early April and met the 65,000 cap in just one week.
Census data shows great strides for women, but much more left to do
In the past four decades, there has been a number of changes in American society and culture. However, for women in the U.S., some things have stayed much the same, according to Census Bureau data released in advance of National Women’s History Month. National Women’s History Month began in March 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women’s Day, first observed in 1909, led to Congress establishing National Women’s History Week, commemorated the second week of March. By 1987, Congress expanded the week-long celebration to a month, celebrated in March. As for women in today’s workforce, numbers show significant gains, while others show much work left to do. By way of sheer numbers, women’s participation in the labor force has increased considerably, from 30.3 million in 1970 to 75.1 million females 16 and older who participated in the civilian labor force in 2013. Women made up 37.97 percent of the 1970 labor force, jumping to 47.4 percent of the civilian labor force in 2013. Particular occupations have also seen a sharp increase in women workers. Census data had shown little participation from women in 1970 as accountants, police officers, lawyers and judges, physicians and surgeons, and pharmacists. By 2006-2010, women made considerable gains in those fields – with particularly strong presence as accountants (60 percent). Of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, 63 percent of social scientists are women, the heaviest representation of women among all. Among other STEM fields, about 14 percent of engineers, 45 percent of mathematicians and statisticians and 47 percent of life scientists were women. On the other hand, growth in certain segments of the workforce has slowed for women. The largest gain in women’s workforce participation occurred between 1970 and 1980, followed by a slowdown. An increase of only 0.4 percentage points occurred in the period leading up to 2006-2010. Compare that growth rate to a peak of 4.3 percentage points in the 1970s. Several occupations are overwhelmingly female. For example, women make up 96.3 percent of dental assistants, 95.9 percent of secretaries and 91.2 percent of registered nurses. Those standings have changed the least in the past 40 years. In 1970, secretaries, bookkeepers, and elementary school teachers were primarily women. In 2006-2010, those women-led occupations were secretaries and administrative assistants, cashiers, and elementary and middle schoolteachers. One explanation is the sheer numbers of jobs available; there are more jobs out there for elementary and middle school teaching positions than (as an example) surgeons. In comparison, the leading jobs for men remain the same as back in 1970: miscellaneous managers, truck drivers, and production supervisors. Four decades later, it is truck drivers, various managers, and freight, stock, and material movers. Researchers say the increase in female participation in the workplace started with the economics of the 1970s, beginning when a single-income household could no longer support a middle-class lifestyle. Gender wage gap remained a major issue in 2014; the Census found that year-round, full-time female workers earned 78¢ in 2013 for every dollar their male counterparts earned. Those numbers are not statistically different from 2012. [Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
