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WOMEN'S FUND OF MISSISSIPPI UPDATE
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E-News for the Week of April 30, 2010
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Proposed legislation would require companies to provide paid sick leave, could benefit millions of low-income workers (Miami-Herald)
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The Healthy Families Act, sponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, would require companies that have 15 or more employees to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked or up to seven sick days a year for a full-time worker. Only 25 percent of low-wage workers have paid sick leave, which makes it a financial hardship for them to get sick and miss work. More than 50 million American workers - nearly 40 percent of the private labor force - don't get paid if they miss work because of illness. The problem is most pronounced in lower-paying industries such as food service and child care, in which only 27 percent of workers get paid sick leave.
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Craigslist sex ads expected to generate $36 million in revenue, site continues to profit from the commercial sex trafficking of girls (New York Times)
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Craigslist, one of the most popular Web sites in the United States, is on track to increase its revenue 22 percent this year, largely from its controversial sex advertisements.The ads, many of which blatantly advertise prostitution, are expected to bring $36 million this year, according to a new projection of Craigslist's income. That is three times the revenue in last year's projection. Officials of organizations that oppose human trafficking say the site remains the biggest online hub for selling women against their will.
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Newsweek story on female activists working to gain political power in countries such as Iraq and Iran (Newsweek)
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Women are at the forefront of Iran's Green Movement, and are leading reformist agendas in Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia, Rwanda, and Angola. They are especially visible in conflict zones, where they are blogging, marching in the streets, holding sit-ins, and launching petitions to secure their rights-as Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi has done with the One Million Signatures campaign, which supports changing laws that discriminate against Iranian women. In some ways, the rise of female dissidents reflects a larger trend toward greater female political participation everywhere. Globally, the percentage of women holding parliamentary seats went from 11.3 percent in 1995 to 18.8 at the end of 2009. The ongoing threat of death, sexual violence, and the rollback of basic rights for women in conflict areas recently led one U.N. official to observe that "it is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in war."
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases report on the leading occupations held by women in 2009
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The BLS estimated roughly 66 million women, over the age of 16, were employed in 2009. Of these employed women, around 75% held full-time positions and the remaining 25% had part-time jobs. The data collected also shed light on employment in relation to gender in the U.S. For example, women held the majority of positions in the following fields:
* 97.9% of customer service representatives
* 96.8 % of secretaries and administrative assistants
* 92.0% of registered nurses
On the other hand, the lowest female presence in an occupation, at 34 percent, was in "managers, all others" positions, which ranked 15th on the list.
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Our Mission:
The Women's Fund of Mississippi
is dedicated to improving
the lives of women and girls
by promoting social change and
economic self-sufficiency through
advocacy and strategic grantmaking. |
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