Women’s Voices 2000 Paints New, In-Depth and Complex Picture of Womens’ Policy Priorities

Women See Opportunity Rather Than Instability in a Time of Economic Change and Want More Control Over Their Economic Lives

The Center for Policy Alternatives and Lifetime Television released results in September from a national poll that describe a complex picture of women’s priorities and values.

Women’s Voices 2000 found that a majority of women and men support an aggressive policy agenda, with more job-independent health care, portable retirement, and equal pay and benefits topping the list.
`”Control’ and `flexibility’ are women’s watchwords for dealing with economic change regardless of their income, marital status, race, party or generation,” said Linda Tarr-Whelan, President of CPA.

Women’s Voices has been tracking women’s views in every presidential election since 1992 and has found that over the past decade:

– Women have urgently and consistently placed juggling work and family, and equal pay and benefits as the most dominant economic concerns in their lives.

– There has been a shift in women’s support for the role government can play in partnering with them to find solutions for their concerns, with nearly 60% of women saying government can and should help.

– Concern about moral values continues to top the list and women and men continue to believe by large margins that parents having more time with their children is the preferred solution.

– Education consistently ranks as a top issue for women.

 

10 Key Points to Understand about Women’s Policy Priorities 1. Four years ago, women thought the economy was marked by instability; now, all groups of women see opportunity. In 2000, 53% of women see increasing opportunity and 26% see increasing instability. In 1996, 57% of women said they see increasing instability and 29% see increasing opportunity. 2. Women are asking, “Is this as good as it gets?” and class distinctions by educational and marital status are more evident. Among college educated women, 56% say that the economic boom has reached them and 40% say that it has not; while among non-college educated women, only 34% of women say that the boom has reached them, and 62% say that it has not. 3. Equal pay and benefits and juggling family and work are critical concerns for all groups of women. 87% of white women, 93% of African American women, 91% of Latinas and 90% of Asian American women said that equal pay and benefits for women are a top priority. 4. Working women are focusing on benefits, not just wages. 71% of all women surveyed said that they would choose a job with more flexibility and benefits over a job that offers more pay. 5. Retirement is a big worry with the preferred solution being portable pensions that can be taken from one job to another. Women rank retirement second only after education on their list of concerns. 85% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans support retirement benefits that move from job to job. 6. Health care costs, another top concern, is also being met with a desire for self-management. The preferred solution is health insurance independent from employment. 72% of women and 65% of men say that job independent, affordable health care is very important to them personally. 7. Women and men believe government can play a helping role and look to government more in 2000 than four years ago. Adults look to government to help tackle tough problems such as childcare and caring for elderly relatives with a plurality of both women and men siding with a government solution to child care. 8. Close to half of women (48%) and men (45%) think it is likely that they will be responsible for caring for an elderly parent or other elderly person. This is especially acute for women who also have children (63%), presenting a double bind for many families. 9. Entrepreneurship continues to be an attractive option as women seek more control and flexibility. Women’s entrepreneurial spirit remains strong and unchanged since 1996. 40% of women already own or would like to own their own businesses. Interest is strongest among African-American women (39%) and Latinas (42%). 10. The time crunch is consistent over time for women as they juggle the demands of family and work and try to spend time with their children to instill moral values. 59% of mothers with children under 6 say that it is harder to balance the demands of family and work  – and 30% say that it is much harder – than it was four years ago. Both men and women believe spending more time with children is by far the top solution to strengthening the values in our country.

 

This national research project was conducted by the bi-partisan and multi-cultural team of Celinda Lake, Linda DiVall, Linda Williams, and Anna Rivera. The poll consisted of a sample of 800 women of all races and ages and 400 men; with over-sampling of Latinas, African-American and Asian-American women.

CPA partnered with state organizations to conduct statewide Women’s Voices polls in Colorado, Connecticut and Georgia in addition to the national poll. Full copies of the national and state poll results can be found here.