President Barack Obama supports issues of importance to working women, according to White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, speaking yesterday at the annual luncheon of the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington.
"Here is a person who grew up with a single mother, watched his mom work so hard each and every day," Jarrett said. "He married an incredibly talented and strong woman and he has two girls. Let's just say he gets it."
Jarrett -- a longtime friend of the Obamas and working mom herself -- highlighted the fact that the first piece of legislation Obama signed after taking office was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, followed quickly by an expansion of government-funded health insurance for children, known as S-CHIP. She touched briefly on the White House Council for Women and Girls, defended Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor and made the case for health care reform.
Now, I certainly can understand the argument that health care is an issue of importance to women and families. Some working moms stay employed solely because of the health benefits. And many without employer-provided medical insurance struggle to provide basic care for their children. We'd all be better off with affordable and universally available health care.
But whenever I see issues I care about relegated to an interagency task force -- such as the Council for Women and Girls -- I worry that many meetings will take place with nothing substantive as a result. Let's just say I'll be eager to read the council's report, which Jarrett promised at the end of the summer, and I'll be looking for concrete initiatives on quality child care, flexible work, job security and other issues of importance to working moms.
What's your take? Are you convinced that Obama "gets it" or are you waiting to see whether he can improve the situation for working moms? What would you like to see on his agenda?
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I’m a little more trusting than you are, I guess. These are the kinds of issues that motivated Barack Obama to get involved in politics in the first place, and then to run for the state legislature, the Senate and the Presidency. And they’re why Valerie Jarrett went to work for him. So I’m confident they’ll come up with a good package. In fact, I think putting an interagency council together makes a lot of sense, because it should make for a more comprehensive package. I can understand why 8 years of the Bush Administration would make anyone a skeptic. But I think Barack Obama’s earned a little patience. Let’s keep in mind why he ran for President in the first place.
I know the Obamas to have been active, enthusiastic and dedicated supporters of women’s organizations, including one for which I used to work, back in Chicago, long before many of us who knew of the state senator ever imagined he might be a serious contender for, let alone elected, President. I have confidence that he really understands and believes that all of society benefits enormously from the investments that are made in women and girls – at least, he did before the whole world was watching. I also think our issues are not just being relegated to a special committee: they are being taken up by those who ensure equal treatment in the workplace and family-friendly flexibility at the EEOC, DOJ, and DOL; by our new HHS secretary who cannot but have an intimate appreciation for the challenges that mothers in particular face; even at the State Department where leading advocate Melanne Verveer was just named Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues, a new position. In short, I believe this administration when it says it’s going to make serious efforts to help women and girls live up to their potential.
It’s great to see that issues of concern to women and girls have been elevated to a senior White House level in the Obama Administration.
It’s clear that Ms. Jarrett has the ear of President Obama, and I am confident that she will be using her position to speak on behalf of the millions of women struggling to make ends meet, provide for their girls (and boys) and be responsible workers on the job.
After eight years of an administration hostile to women’s equal rights in the workplace and access to reproductive healthcare here and abroad, it is refreshing to see our new president taking an active role in advancing the issues that matter to women and girls. From signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to rescinding the “Global Gag Rule,” President Obama has shown us that he is willing to put words into action when it comes to women’s rights. The new Council for Women and Girls will, I hope, allow the administration to develop multi-faceted solutions to the complex problems that women face when they balance their interests as workers, parents, caretakers, and citizens.
Not an effective speech on women’s issues (Ms. Tchen – the Council’s Director – did not do an effective job in a recent NPR interview either)
Both Ms. Jarrett and Ms. Tchen need to distinguish the difference between that strategy of incorporating women’s issues in the objectives and activities of the various departments (a very good tactic for sustainability) and the 3 to 5 high level objectives the Council wants to accomplish, by when and by what measure.
The implementation problem is that the Council is not either Ms. Jarrett’s or Ms. Tchen’s full-time job. This beginning does not engender confidence.