This week’s news in numbers, ranked 😁 ➡ 😡
$1.5T in the Biden administration’s forthcoming American Families Plan is earmarked for “human infrastructure” including a national paid leave program (🤞🤞🤞and also hello it’s so so crazy that we still don’t have this), reduced early childcare costs, free pre-K and community college education and other measures aimed at curbing poverty. Biden will lay out the full proposal next week. Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren will reintroduce a $700 billion universal child care plan. [WaPo & The 19th]
70% of female and male teenagers surveyed believe that a woman will be elected president in the next 10 years. But while 60 percent of the white male teenagers said that they were interested in eventually running for office, just 44 percent of white teenage girls and 36 percent of teenage girls of color were interested in pursuing political office. Just half of teenagers believe female and male candidates have an equal chance of winning elections. One young woman who watched what Vice President Kamala Harris and other female candidates had to contend with while campaigning said, “If that’s what it takes to achieve that position, I don’t think it’s worth it.” [NYT]
50% of mothers who handled the majority of care for young children prior to the Covid crisis exited the workforce or reduced their hours at the outset of the pandemic, according to a survey of different-sex relationships. Working mothers on average lost over three hours per week of paid labor in the early days of the pandemic; for every 20 percent increase in the amount of childcare work fathers did, mothers gained back three work hours weekly. [HBR]
44% of women over 16 in Los Angeles County have gotten their first Covid vaccination shot versus just 30 percent of men, mirroring a disturbing national gender gap that could seriously jeopardize herd immunity. The reasons for the gap vary but include women’s overrepresentation in industries such as nursing and teaching, where they might have easier access to jabs, as well as political and cultural patterns, like the “macho” effect that historically makes men less likely to participate in preventative healthcare. Women, who make up both the majority of caregivers at home and the majority of essential workers, are doubly incentivized to get the vaccine as they seek both to protect the family they care for and reenter the workforce. [NYT]
This week’s news in quotes, ranked 😡 ➡ 😡 (sorry, no 😁, 🤷♀️)
“We were all so excited to be part of something new, part of this post-Harvey Weinstein era … I thought I was brought on board to give my perspective as a woman of color in the industry, but when I shared my opinions, I was punished,” a former employee of Abigail Disney’s Level Forward said. The company, which was founded to empower women in the entertainment industry, is facing accusations that its workplace was often marginalizing, particularly for women of color. [THR]
“I’ve barely hit on you. So that counts for something.” So goes a text sent by the Mets’ now former executive producer of entertainment, Joe DeVito, to a colleague. Multiple people within the baseball club have reported on the ongoing toxic culture there, citing sexist and inappropriate commentary, pregnancy discrimination and other instances of workplace misconduct. [S.I.]
“Is a serial sexual predator the best person to write a book about a man famous for his misogyny?” That rhetorical question was a response from lawyer and activist Alexandra Brodsky to the numerous sexual assault and misconduct allegations against author Blake Bailey, whose biography of Philip Roth — who was notorious for his mistreatment of women on the page and in real life — became an instant bestseller this month prior to its publisher deciding to halt shipments and promotion of the book this week. [NYT]
“Each suicide case is one too many … [Their occurrence] in such a relatively short time span is a clear red light the bank can no longer ignore,” wrote representatives in January acting as a liaison between employees of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and management, after two suicides on the bank’s premises. Current and former employees of the bank, which acts as the funding arm of the European Union, describe a workplace rife with sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination. [Bloomberg]
