Economic Stability and Opportunities

1
Economic Stability and Opportunities
2
Women In Government

• Women In Government Foundation, Inc. is a
  national, non-profit, non-partisan organization
  of women state legislators providing leadership
  opportunities, networking, expert forums, and
  educational resources.

3
Policy Resource Centers

• Autoimmune Disease
• Biomedical
• Bone Health
• Care Coordination
• Diabetes
• Economic Stability and
• Opportunities
• Oncology
• Public Health
• Visit Policy Resource Centers at
  www.womeningovernment.org

4
What is Economic Stability and Opportunities ?

• Simply put, Economic Stability and Opportunities
  (ESO) seeks to help individuals overcome the
  economic, social, and policy barriers to
  achieving financial stability.
• Women In Governments ESO Policy Resource Center
  is dedicated to connecting state legislators to
  policy resources that support financial stability
  for low-income, working families, individuals,
  and youth.

5
ESO Policies Include

• Asset Building and Financial Literacy
• Earned Income Tax Credit
• Pay Disparity
• Predatory and Payday Lending
• Workforce Development
• Affordable Housing
• Juvenile Justice
• Youth and Foster Care Transitions
• Child Welfare, Community, and Permanence

6
Asset Building and Financial Literacy

• Asset building enhances the growth of financial
  resources, creates a financial foundation, and
  results in stable futures.
• Significant degree of wealth inequality in the
  U.S. is among low-income minority population.
• Asset building can improve financial
  psychological, and social well-being of these
  populations.

7
Earned Income Tax Credit

• State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) supplements
  federal credit and works as a rebate for state
  taxes paid by low-income working people.
• 25 states have enacted a state EITC, which is
  percentage of federal credit.
• States can create and expand existing Earned
  Income Tax Credits. They can exempt credits from
  Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
  Medicaid, food stamp programs, and make state tax
  credit refundable.

8
Pay Disparity

• Womens participation in the workforce has
  steadily increased over the last several decades
  to account for nearly half of all workers.
• The wage ration in the 10 most common occupations
  for women ranges from 71.2 percent of mens
  earnings for retail sales managers to 93.6
  percent of mens for customer service
  representatives.

Source Institute for Womens Policy Research
9
Predatory and Payday Lending

• Predatory lending is defined by inequitable
  market practices that result in charging inflated
  fees and interest rates for loans.
• Borrowers might not be capable of repaying loans
  and financial situation may get worse over time.

10
Workforce Development

• Workforce development incorporates specific
  measure to improve professional and personal
  growth necessary for securing stable job and
  ensuring financial independence.
• Ever increasing gap between educated and
  uneducated individuals, which weakens stability
  of uneducated population.
• Employment training programs enhance individuals
  educational level and skills.

11
Affordable Housing

• Affordability is for a household to spend no more
  than 30 percent of its annual income on housing.
• Families who pay more than 30 percent of income
  for housing are considered cost burdened and may
  have difficulty affording necessities.
• Affordable housing project can be created at
  state and federal level, in addition states can
  implement laws and regulations designed to secure
  availability of affordable housing.

12
Juvenile Justice

• Incarcerated youth often face of lifetime of low
  educational achievement and struggle with
  marginal job stability and long term advancement
  in the labor force.
• WIG recognizes the importance of designing
  programs aimed to improve the odds of youth
  successfully transitioning to adulthood. Primary
  to achieving this goal is reforming the juvenile
  justice system so that fewer youth are locked up,
  and programs place more emphasis on interventions
  designed
• to create opportunities for positive youth
  development.

13
Youth and Foster Care Transitions

• After youth transition out of foster care they
  experience poor outcomes when compared to peers
  in general population.
• For example, youth transitioning from foster care
  suffer higher rates of incarceration, school
  drop-out, unemployment, and lack healthcare
  access.
• Policies and practices can be implemented to
  allow for youth to obtain necessary training and
  skills to become independent members of society.

14
Child Welfare, Community, and Permanence

• All children need a safe, nurturing environment
  and support system to protect and guide them.
• legislators can adopt policies that ensure the
  accumulation of social networks that can aid in
  healthy development and increase stability and
  permanency for children.

15
ESOAwareness Education Toolkit

• http//womeningovernment.org/economics
• Provide materials to enhance public awareness and
  a springboard for legislator action
• Sample legislation
• FAQ
• Sample constituent letters
• And more!