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Women’s Equality Day – 2022

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On August 26th, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day which was passed by Congress in 1973 to commemorate the passage of the 19th Amendment.  In the nearly 50 years since, women’s rights have taken steps forward and steps backward.  At North Carolina Women United, we look to advance public policy and laws that work toward women’s equality on a whole host of topics. One of these being Economic Stability which is near and dear to my heart as a Financial Advisor working with women on achieving financial independence and empowerment.   One positive of late is the trending in the right direction of the gender pay gap for women ages 25 to 34 which has shrunk considerably.  Pew Research Center released the figures in 2021, showing women were paid 7 cents less than their male counterparts compared to 33 cents in 1980.

This gives me so much hope for these women in their “golden years”.  Most of us don’t want to talk about aging, but for me, it’s part of my job to have these discussions.  I talk with clients about all their financial goals – short and long – but the longest goal of all is planning for retirement.  We are talking about their lives from age 65 to 95 and what their dreams and aspirations are for that time of their lives.  The majority of my clients are women, so I know the repercussions the inequality in pay has dealt on so many women over the age of 65 today.  The pay gap in the past has resulted in an even bigger gap in the quality of retirement for older American women, and the pandemic has widened the retirement savings confidence gap.

On top of that, women are more likely to have breaks in their career which can affect savings – having children and taking care of aging family.  Exacerbating this issue, women generally live longer than men, often having been their caregiver as well.  Also, more than half of women over the age of 65 are unmarried and aging solo compared to a quarter of men.

In 2021, Edward Jones partnered with Age Wave to conduct a study of 9,000 people across North America to understand what living well in retirement means for them.  It covered five generations, and among many interesting findings was that the whole idea of retirement has changed with the Baby Boomers.  42% of their parents’ generation said retirement was “a time for rest and relaxation” while 55% of today’s retirees definite it as “a new chapter in life”.   What does that mean? It means having purpose, learning new things, traveling, and time with family.  Having an adequate retirement savings lends itself to a lot more options for whatever your purpose may be.

I get excited when I’m contacted by women in this age group of 25 to 34.  They want to learn, and I’m here to help.  Women often need a lot of confidence in their knowledge before making a decision – this can often lead to analysis paralysis and further delays in investing. Women are key in the transfer of wealth that is currently happening in our country with the Baby Boomer generation. We need to ensure we are prioritizing our health and understanding our purpose.

Where do you start?

    • Does your employer offer a retirement plan? If so, meet with the advisor on that plan to get started, find out what the employer match might be (free money!)  and ensure you are properly invested.
    • Read up on the different types of retirement plans available.
    • BUDGET – make sure you understand what your cash inflow and outflow is now – this will help you build that foundation of a healthy retirement

Want to learn more?

    • Listen to a podcast.
    • Ask a friend or family members if they use an advisor they trust for financial information.
    • Interview financial professionals until you find one that makes you feel heard and asks more questions about what is most important to you than about your money.

I look forward to my own retirement in 20 years. I know it will be very difficult to walk away from my clients that I have grown so close with over the years.  I also know that there will be a generation of women changing these numbers we see today.  They will be confident that they have wisely taken control of their finances, so retirement will be an opportunity for a new chapter for them.

 

Check out the study mentioned here: www.edwardjones.com/newretirement

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A Note From Our NCWU President on Roe vs. Wade

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Sadly, yesterday’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade marks an unfathomable abandonment of a pregnant person’s fundamental right to privacy and bodily autonomy. This extreme and dangerous decision will restrict the ability of millions to make the best reproductive choices for them. Abortion is health care, and it’s nearly paralyzing to accept the reality that yesterday we woke up with a constitutional right that had been ripped away by noon. We will continue to fight for the right to control our bodies!

In the last 24, so many states have moved swiftly to ban abortion. While abortion in NC is still legal, the stakes for the upcoming election are even higher! Dismantling these patriarchal systems becomes a real possibility when we support pro-women candidates who have a sincere commitment to policy rooted in an intersectional feminist framework like reproductive justice.

I know that many of us are submerged in collective grief that only time and change can genuinely heal but until then, remember to breathe. Things are bad, yes. But this long and bruising fight requires that you not burn out.

Charnessa Ridley
NCWU President

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Mental Health Awareness Month

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infographic-of-anxiety-safety

“But when do we tell each other it is ok to breathe? That it is OK when you cannot show up for every issue? “

 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most common mental health issue in women is depression. It is reported that twice as many women experience depression during their lives as men. As North Carolina Women United, we find it necessary, particularly at this moment in our state and national context, to add our voice to this public health discussion and raise awareness of the importance of mental health in the lives of women. 

 Everything feels like it’s on fire, or that it should be! (We mean that symbolically, we are not promoting arson!) If you do not have challenges with mental health already, try reading enough headlines and it will surely take a toll on your mental wellness. From forced isolation in response to the pandemic, war, the refugee crisis, mass shootings, gender-based violence, racist attacks against black people, hauntings of missing and murdered Indigenous women, shortages of life-saving and life-giving essentials like baby formula, high inflation, climate change, and threats to human rights and bodily autonomy—the list can go on for days.

I have worked with and on behalf of sexual assault and domestic violence victims for over 15 years. I have seen first-hand the impact of repeated exposure to traumatic events. Living in a constant state of fear is disastrous to our stress level and increases symptoms of anxiety and depression. How do we recharge? In the quest for social and gender justice, our first response is often to fight. to rally and to march. To protest. To make a call to action and pressure a decision-making body to make different decisions. As proven through history, these are all very commendable and necessary actions in the advancement of the status of women.

types of anxiety infographic  

But when do we tell each other to breathe? That it is OK when you cannot show up for everyone and every issue?  How often have we used the tools of patriarchy and capitalism to shame women who struggle to show up because of the weight of the world? Did we make time to understand the weight of their world before we judged their actions or inaction? How do we treat one another when our activism looks different? How can we create a space for women to show up authentically and yet be worthy of taking up space? This is the internal work we think all boards and coalitions should do. This is how we positively impact mental wellness. 

 “If no one else does, know that we see you and appreciate you! The membership of NCWU is devoted and hardworking”

When we push for increased access to healthcare, the outcome is that we are not only closing the insurance gap; it means getting closer to making holistic wellness resources available for all women despite their wage, zip code, and level of education. Trauma-informed therapeutic services can help so many women cope and deal with the mental health challenges that living in this world can bring. The specialized care found in those treatment modalities should not be a privilege or a luxury. All women that could benefit from those services should have access to them. We know that is not a reality for all women, especially those without guaranteed sick days and those who do not earn a living wage.

After we have achieved all the legislative success in our sights, what is next? How quickly can we reach back to the community and grassroot efforts on the ground to continue progress? Sustaining that level of change on the community level will require healing and restoration, and that includes meeting the needs of the whole person, including addressing their mental wellness. This also means that we must listen to communities when they say they need alternatives to law enforcement response when seeking mental health crisis intervention. In the absence of that, we will continue to advocate for more training as well as increased accountability in law enforcement.

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Pregnant and incarcerated people who give birth while shackled deserve access to wellness services that will address the consequences that action will have on their mental health. Mothers who feel forced to have or not have children under any circumstance that does not honor their humanity or respect their bodily autonomy should have access to the mental health resources necessary for healing. What does it mean for the parent-child relationship born under these circumstances? Does the impact go away when the rule or policy is changed?

With maternal and infant mortality rates being as alarming as they are and community knowledge and awareness of them increasing, we need more clinicians in doctor’s offices who understand the impact this fear will have on the patients seen by medical providers. When women, especially women of color, are not heard by medical staff, how can these clinicians serve as patient advocates to create different outcomes? This integrated approach to patient care may exist in some urban communities, but women in the most rural parts of NC deserve the same access.

anxiety infographic

There are locations in our state where women must drive across multiple county lines for certain health and wellness needs. NC providers reported an increase in the number of individuals seeking services during the pandemic. The pandemic severely triggered many with existing mental health challenges. Although telehealth assisted greatly in meeting the need, it did not eliminate the labor shortages. While telehealth can address the barriers to services due to distance, the wait time for an appointment can still be a challenge. These wait times are often discouraging, and appointments are not kept, resulting in fewer individuals who need treatment receiving the help and support they need. Repeated enough times, this lack of access and shortage of resources will be felt by entire generations whose ancestors could not benefit from the professional support and resources available.

This month and every month after, we affirm that mental health matters. The mental health and wellness of women matters, and we all share in the responsibility of doing our part to have a positive impact. If no one else does, know that we see you and appreciate you! The membership of NCWU is devoted and hardworking. We know that each of you comes into this work fighting your own individual battles. You are doing a great job, even if all you did today was hold it together! Activism takes a toll. Being a woman in this world adds tax. Be kind to yourself

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Information On Equal Pay Days 2021

Equal pay for women has never been more popular than it is today. Yet, nearly 55 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and nearly a decade after the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, never has achieving actual pay equity seemed more out of reach.

The next Equal Pay Day is Wednesday, March 24, 2021. This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.

Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. (It was originally called “National Pay Inequity Awareness Day” and changed to Equal Pay Day in 1998.)

Since Census statistics showing the latest wage figures will not be available until late August or September, NCPE leadership decided years ago to select a Tuesday in April as Equal Pay Day. (Tuesday was selected to represent how far into the next work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week.) The date also is selected to avoid religious holidays and other significant events.

Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color.

AAPI WOMEN’S EQUAL PAY DAY
MARCH 9 — 85 CENTS
EQUAL PAY DAY
MARCH 24 — 82 CENTS
BLACK WOMEN’S EQUAL PAY DAY
AUG 3 — 63 CENTS
NATIVE WOMEN’S EQUAL PAY DAY
SEP 8 — 60 CENTS
LATINA EQUAL PAY DAY
OCT 21 — 55 CENTS

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Updated 2020 Legislative Agenda

Thank you all so much for joining us in June for our listening session on how your organization or community is experiencing the current moment. Because of your contribution, we were able to successfully update our legislative agenda to incorporate content on Covid-19 and we also applied an explicitly anti-racist lens to our recommendations. Please click here or below to download the new report!

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Mental health and Self-care during COVID-19

Individuals with anxiety disorders experience repeated, extreme, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often anxiety disorders involve continual episodes of impulsive feelings of intense fear that can last for varying lengths of time. According to the National Mental Health Association, anxiety and depression are more common in women. Women who birth children may experience postpartum depression and other maternal mental health challenges that can affect the development of their child.

The impact of COVID-19 has only exacerbated the conditions that breed depression and anxiety. The social distancing necessary to survive this pandemic has forced many into isolation that makes worry worse, particularly for women who live alone. Overwhelming thoughts like “How long will this last?  Is my family being safe? Will I stay healthy?”,  are constantly at the forefront of the minds of many. Those thoughts are met with the task of processing around the clock news coverage, headlines, and social media clickbait about the threat of the pandemic and the impact it is having. Another issue is having to sort through the facts from the rumors and misinformation.  Many individuals report an increase in stress, fear, loneliness, and sadness as a result of the pandemic.

For those overthinkers and individuals with anxiety or depression, these super-uncertain times are really taking a toll. Now more than ever it is important that individuals and communities prioritize mental health. What does that mean?

Quarantine increases isolation, and for folks with anxiety or depression that can be a recipe for disaster. In a recent Facebook poll, we heard from several women about their routine which included:

  • Refusing to engage in conversations that heighten your anxiety
  • Limiting the interactions with individuals who want to talk only about fatalities
  • Getting fresh air every day
  • Taking up crafts or home projects to calm thoughts
  • Praying and meditating
  • Exercising
  • Playing games with children
  • Scheduling virtual dates with friends and family

how-to-stay-healthy-from-home-during-covid-19

What are the things that work for you?

What should be included in local governments’ post-COVID plan to address mental health and promote evidence-based services?

 

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EVENT: Listening Session to Discuss NC’s Changing Feminist Policy Landscape

Police violence against black and brown bodies and the global pandemic are parallel plagues across this nation. For many of us, working at the intersections of multiple crises is not a new task. However, these new and more uncertain times have exposed the fault lines of just how broken things are, leaving so many questions to consider. It also exposes how ready we are for change.

What is the role of the feminist movement in addressing structural and institutional racism? What are the vulnerabilities in our diverse community of NC women? Why is front line work so gendered? What does it mean if childcare fails? The Atlantic has described this pandemic as a “disaster for feminism” and we agree that this public health crisis has had a significant impact on family life, especially for women. Additionally, the pandemic has exposed, for the first time for many folks, the reality of what Mikki Kendall calls “Hood Feminism”, the feminism of women for whom there is a constant thought and effort to secure safe and sustainable housing, decent available food, good schools, and equitable instruction.

These are the musings of my mind; we want to know what’s on yours. What are your NCWU member organizations seeing as the impacts of the pandemic and public health crisis on your stakeholders? What would a women’s agenda for NC’s COVID recovery look like? Other states are starting to publish similar recommendations–see the Hawaii Women’s Commission proposal or this op-ed from California’s Rep. Jackie Speier. We’re interested in compiling a similar effort for our state. Ideally, this would be a reflection of your evolving policy priorities for the legislature as you are witnessing and experiencing the impacts of the pandemic on your stakeholders. This could either take the form of an addendum to our 2019-2020 legislative agenda, or a discrete product such as the Hawaii example. Please share your ideas and reactions with our policy director Lyric Thompson at lyrict@gmail.com, which she will curate in a running list that we can discuss as an NCWU community on a Zoom call on June 23rd at 4 p.m.

Register for the Zoom Call

P.S. Read our new blog post and take our survey! We want to hear from you!

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Where Are the Pink Pussy Hats When Black Women Are Dying?

This week, blackout Tuesday was a day to center the voices of black people and amplify their stories and experiences. This is a necessity each day, not only Tuesday and not only this week. The 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence honoring the memory of George Floyd this Thursday was an act of solidarity that must extend every minute of every day, and must expand to include the memory of black women, like Breonna Taylor and Michelle Cusseaux, who have also been murdered but have not been memorialized with the same energy and fervor because of the intersecting and cruel legacy of sexism and racism in America.

As we consider the actions necessary to end racism and call out white supremacy, I hope we remember that we do not have to look far to find more work that needs to be done. When I think about healing and ending systemic racism and state sanctioned violence, I’m not certain of the way forward, but I know we don’t move forward without acknowledging the erasure of black women and their experiences across many of the social justice movements, including the larger feminist movement.

Something has shifted this week. The stream of black squares on instagram, the proliferation of organizational and individual solidarity statements and posts with symbolic images create the necessary echo chamber that carries the message farther than it has before, but what is next? Speaking out is step one. For NC Women United, as an explicitly anti-racisit organization we know that ending racism also includes dismantling the parts of white feminism that exist to promote the safety of middle-class white women at the expense of black women. The conversation about police brutality does not live in a vacuum outside of the world that allows the Amy Coopers of the world to weaponize their tears against a black man. These are both problems for the feminist movement–in all of its diversity–to address.

For many black women, especially those in the feminist movement, we are all too familiar with the tone deafness that occurs when we speak our truth and we are used to reminding people to see us, to respect our opinions and trust our ideas. During the summer of 2006, Mariana Ortega wrote “Being Lovingly, Knowingly Ignorant: White Feminism and Women of Color.” In this piece she speaks to the racist ideologies within feminism that claim to speak for all women while only recognizing the needs of black women when it furthers an agenda or creates an inclusive appeal–inviting Black speakers to an event or to sponsor a march at the last minute, when all of the planning is done, in an obviously last-minute scramble to be more inclusive. Black women have been so overlooked by mainstream white feminism that many, like Alice Walker, have denounced it completely and instead cling to the term womanism which incorporates an adoration for black womanhood AND a commitment to improve the quality of life for all folks that experience oppression due to race or class.

Last year during many of the women’s marches, women were still seen adorning knitted caps known as “pink pussy hats”.In response to this there have been many conversations about how exclusionary that was. “Not all women have pussys and not all pussys are pink.” That feeling of being overlooked is still a stain on our movement that has to be healed. Our agendas should reflect the changes that we need to see around us. When we talk about reproductive rights and reproductive justice does that include the mortality of black women during childbirth? What is #Metoo without also reconciling the reality of false reports of rape against black men? How do we care about increased civic participation and not fight for the rights of incarcerated mothers who give birth in shackles? How do we fight to close the gap in wages and ignore the school to prison pipeline? Where are the pink pussy hats when black Women are dying? These are only a few points of a very very long list of intersecting items. We have to be intentional about addressing the oppressive experiences of black women and avoid clinging to tactics adopted from movements that excluded them.

At NC Women United, we are committed to lifting up these stories and experiences and will work, from this day forward, to incorporate them more meaningfully in our advocacy. Building on our efforts to better center race and class in our policy education and advocacy, we will be refining our signature products–our legislative agenda and report card–to ensure they are advancing an explicitly intersectional and anti-racist agenda. We will not take only a gender lens to NC policy, asking “What about women?,” but an intersectional lens, “What about Black women? What about Latinx women? What about LBT women, and gender non-conforming people? Rural women? Disabled women? Migrant women? And, importantly, how do the choices of North Carolina policymakers–and the messages of the NC women’s movement–impact people differently on the basis of these different streams of discrimination?”

We are a movement that is stronger together, and today we recommit to working with our member organizations and the women of this state–in all their diversity–to ensure that we do everything in our collective power to center that diversity and strength in our work. Together, we have the power to make invisibilized women visible, to lift up their stories to inform the choices of North Carolina policymakers accordingly.  We invite you to share your unique experiences of this moment with us as we refine and update our post-COVID legislative agenda, toward a more inclusive and lasting progress.

Sincerely,
Charnessa Ridley
NCWU President

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Survey: What do Women Need in a State Response to COVID?

For many of us, working at the intersections of multiple crises is not a new task. However, these new and more uncertain times have exposed the fault lines of just how broken things are, leaving so many questions to consider.

Why is front line work so gendered? What does it mean if childcare fails? What are the vulnerabilities in our diverse community of NC women? The Atlantic has described this pandemic as a “disaster for feminism” and we agree that this public health crisis has had a significant impact on family life, especially for women. Additionally, the pandemic has exposed, for the first time for many folks, are just now waking up to the reality of what Mikki Kendell calls “Hood Feminism”,; the feminism of women for whom there is The constant thought and effort to secure safe and sustainable housing, decent available food, good schools and equitable instruction.

Arguably this pandemic has had a profoundly classist impact For the first time some women are having to worry about groceries, diapers, clean water, eviction, access to quality health care and hygiene products. However, with nearly 40 percent of jobs under $40, 000 lost and the possibility of a vaccine not being widley available, it does invite the prospect of class genocide.

For women in communities of color this “survival mode” is a switch that never turns off. Has this been a disaster for feminism or has this caused a leveling of the playing field that now requires us all to work towards building the infrastructure that never allows these basic needs to go unmet? We do not have all the answers, but this is a dialogue that we would like to have with our members. The following zooms calls are available so that we can hear from you. How are you? What are you working on? What have you seen and experienced during this time?

We are committed to addressing the challenges that exist for women and families in our state. With a critical election on the horizon it is even more important to have a collective agenda that will enhance the quality of life for all women. But we need your help. What are you experiencing as the impacts and effects of this pandemic? Please take our survey, from which we are compiling a picture of how the women of NC are faring, which will inform our advocacy agenda for what the state’s response to COVID should address.. We know there is no such thing as gender-neutral policy choices–they are only gender-blind, unclear how they might affect people across gender, race, immigration status or other lines. We hope to make these differences clear to NC policymakers.

Won’t you join us?

Click here to take our survey!!