Increasing Women's Income

Minimum wage

The federal minimum wage is governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938, sets a wage floor or a level that wages are not allowed to fall below. To raise the federal minimum wage, or to adjust it for inflation, Congress must pass a bill and the President must sign it into law. In 2007, the federal minimum wage was increased for the first time in 10 years. The new federal minimum wage is $7.25 or $15,080 a year for a worker who works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.

Many states also have minimum wage laws and currently eighteen states and the District of Columbia pay more than the federal minimum wage. Twenty-three states have laws that set the minimum wage at the federal level. Four states have lower minimum wage rates than the federal limit and five states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee) have no laws governing minimum wage. However, in cases where the state and federal minimum wage differ, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.

YWCA Position
The YWCA supports initiatives to increase the income of women, including policies that raise the minimum wage, protect overtime, strengthen equal pay, maintain the earned income tax credit, oppose the privatization of Social Security, and expand non-traditional training for women from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

Candidate Questions
Do you support raising the minimum wage?

What is your position on indexing the minimum wage for inflation?

Do you support the creation of a living wage?

Equal Pay

The Equal Pay Act was created over forty years ago and stronger legislation is needed to address wage discrimination. Today, women are still earning less than their male counterparts, wage discrimination laws are poorly enforced and wage discrimination cases are extremely difficult to prove and win. For example, in 2009, the year for most recent data, women earned only 77 cents for every dollar men received. Over the course of their lifetimes, pay inequity leaves women with less income to pay for items their families need such as healthcare, housing, child care, groceries and tuition; and it also results in lower Social Security benefits for women when they retire.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protect workers against wage discrimination. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits unequal pay to men and women who perform the same job. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

YWCA Position
The YWCA supports initiatives to increase the income of women, including policies that raise the minimum wage, protect overtime, strengthen equal pay, maintain the earned income tax credit, oppose the privatization of Social Security, and expand non-traditional training for women from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

Candidate Questions
What is your position on equal pay?

What will you do as an elected official to ensure that women have equal pay for equal work? 

Social Security

Created in 1935, Social Security is a program that provides cash benefits for retirees, survivors’ benefits to family members of workers who have passed away, and benefits for disabled individuals and their families. The Social Security system is tied to the employment and earnings history of individuals. The Social Security system itself is funded by payroll taxes that are paid by both the employee and employer on the first $110,100 an individual makes.

Nearly 60% of all Social Security recipients are women. Social Security serves as a critical safety net for women of all ages, from all income levels, and all racial-ethnic backgrounds. The current program provides women a guaranteed, inflation adjusted lifetime benefit and is a primary source of income for many women. Women are able to receive retirement income, disability benefits and survivors benefits from Social Security—all of which help pay for necessary food, clothing and shelter.

In 2009, 45 percent of all elderly unmarried females receiving Social Security benefits relied on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income.

In addition to providing retirement benefits to women and men, Social Security also provides death and disability benefits to women and children. Over 30% of Social Security recipients receive survivor or disability benefits.

YWCA Position
The YWCA opposes any plan that would replace Social Security benefits with privatized Social Security accounts which would result in steep benefit cuts and cost trillions of dollars to create and maintain. The YWCA supports strengthening Social Security to ensure that women, girls and their families will continue to have full, guaranteed, inflation adjusted Social Security benefits.

Candidate Questions
 What is your proposal to ensure Social Security is there for future generations?

What is your position on raising the retirement/benefit age?

Right now Social Security payroll taxes are paid on a worker’s first $106,080 earnings; earnings above $110,100 are not subject to Social Security payroll taxes. What is your position on taxing a worker’s wages above $110,100?

Budget and Tax Policy

Government budgets are important documents that impacts the lives of women and girls of all ages. Through their budgets, the federal government and state and local governments outline each year what their priorities are and how much money these priorities will receive. Budgets are important because they fund programs that invest in the lives, well-being, and future of women and girls. Budgets fund K-12 education and student loan programs to educate girls and young women, anti-violence programs including battered women’s shelters and rape crisis programs, and affordable housing programs and nutrition assistance programs for elderly and disabled women.

On the federal level, the federal budget details what the federal government will spend its money on and how much it will spend. It is a statement both of the priorities of the President and Congress and a statement of what programs they wish to invest in for America’s future.

Tax policies are also a statement of government priorities as they detail what individuals or business the government decides to provide tax relief for and how much relief. When governments cut taxes they make a statement that they prefer cutting taxes for individuals or businesses to making investments in programs such as housing, health care, and education.

On the federal level, federal tax policy outlines what individuals and/or businesses the President and Congress decide to provide tax relief for and how much relief.

YWCA Position
The YWCA supports initiatives to increase the income of women, including policies that raise the minimum wage, protect overtime, strengthen equal pay, maintain the earned income tax credit, oppose the privatization of Social Security, and expand non-traditional training for women from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. The YWCA believes that budgets and tax policies are a statement of priorities. We support investments in programs that help improve the lives of women and girls.

Candidate Questions
What programs do you support that improve the lives of women and girls?

What have you done throughout your life to ensure that these have been funded at levels that are sufficient to meet the needs of women and girls?

What will you do in office to continue your commitment to these programs and the women and girls who benefit from them?

What is your position on the deduction for charitable giving whereby individuals receive a reduction in federal taxes due because they have donated to charity?

Many of the tax cuts passed since 2001, including those that benefit low-income, middle-income, and wealthy individuals are set to expire in 2013.

What is your position on extending these tax cuts? What is your policy position on the Estate Tax?