8/31/11

Flips like Jake

I was once told by an older male colleague that I really wouldn't have to worry about my financial future because I would get married and my husband would take care of me. I was 23 at the time and felt confused by this remark. First, I was always raised to be responsible for myself and not be dependent on a man for anything (something instilled by my dad). Second, to be really honest with you, I secretly liked the idea of not having to worry about my finances, ever!

Well, here I am staring down my 39th birthday (a whole nother blog post), no husband in sight, having worked in mostly the non-profit sector and with a savings account that's got something in it, at least. I just never really gave much thought to my financial future until I heard the preachings of Suze Orman a few years ago. It was like the scene in the Blues Brothers when Jake sees the light and does a series of flips. Ok, not quite but almost.

As social security and Medicare continue to be targets of elimination, I've started to get really serious about the future stuff, which is closer now than it was 15 years ago (gulp). After reading and doing a bit of research, I've learned that women are usually at a disadvantage when it comes to saving for retirement and often do not think about doing it until later-- me being the perfect case in point. The earlier you start working on it, the better.

So here are some opportunities for you:

1) CT NOW will be hosting a pay negotiation workshop on Thursday, 9/22, 6:30 - 8:30 @ the Hamden Library. The higher your salary, the more you can save for retirement! You can find more information about that, here. We will be hosting one on retirement planning next year, stay tuned!

2 & 3) The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) is hosting a 2 part online workshop on preparing for the future. The first part is on what women need to know about social security, and that will be happening on Wed, 9/7 @ 2 pm, and the second will be on what women need to know about pensions and saving for retirement, which will be happening on Mon 9/12 @ 1 pm. More information can be found, here. They are FREE, but require registration.

Perhaps if you take the time now to empower yourself, you'll later be doing flips like Jake because you can actually retire before age 80.

8/30/11

Just admit it, America - you NEED us!


Remember the old saying, "Can't live with 'em; can't live without 'em", often in jest regarding the opposite sex? The term still remains true today and America's economy is kicking itself in the butt for not noticing sooner.

An article found on Forbes discussed the correlation between economic success and women in the workforce. Who would've ever known that companies with more women sitting in board seats exceeded all other companies financially. Many of Forbes Fortune 500 companies are ran and directed by, yes..WOMEN!

Now I know the author talks about women originally getting involved in the workforce due to WWII and the shortage of skilled laborers in the country so it makes me wonder where this leaves women in today's nasty job market. I refuse to cross my fingers wishing for WWIII in the name of America realizing females are needed in the job field just as much as men are; however, what alternatives are there?

The only way women can make sure they are recognized and appreciated in the workplace is by making their presence known in the workplace (positively, that is). Women are clearly just as intelligent and productive as men are (because Forbes & I say so!) so women should most definitely be employed and paid as men are.

Better yet, learn how to negotiate your wage and other job skills at our upcoming Workshop! You can get more information here!
This year the CT NOW Foundation has created two brand new levels of sponsorships so that individuals can become sponsors of our 2011 Love Your Body 5K! Our first level is our "Fabulous Friends" who make a donation of $1-$99. The second level of sponsorship is for our "Sassy Sponsors" who make a donation of $100!
To become a "Fabulous Friend" or "Sassy Sponsor" simply fill out this form and send it back to the CT NOW Foundation. Your donation will help support this empowering event as well as the work of the CT NOW Foundation! In addition you wil have your name on a special insert that will go into all the race bags handed out on race day!
Our Goal:
20 "Fabulous Friends" and "Sassy Sponsors" by Sept. 20th!
Will you help us reach our goal?
Please mail your form and check (made out to CT NOW Foundation) to 56 Arbor Street, Suite 417, Hartford CT 06106. All donations are tax -deductible.

8/28/11

Free Birth Control for Women?



From Huffingtonpost.com and
News.yahoo.com


A few weeks ago I read about the provision in a law that will expand preventative health benefits for women and must include birth control with no co pays, staring in 2013. This is part of a broad expansion for women that would also cover breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual "well women" physical screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and diabetes during pregnancy, counseling for domestic violence and other services. When I read this I was overjoyed at what a huge step forward this is for women's rights. A great number of my friends have trouble affording the high co pays required for birth control. People without insurance have an even harder time. Places like Planned Parenthood have helped over the years offer birth control at reduced prices, but the cost for women is still high. When I looked more into this law I found out through another article that this law will help women prevent pregnancy and help women space their pregnancies apart enough, 18- 24 months, so they have healthier pregnancies. Research shows this prevents low birth weight, prematurity, and even autism.


The thing that upset me is the proposed religious conscience exemption that would allow religious institutions to opt out of offering birth control coverage. There will be a time for public comment on this exemption at the end of this year. This law also includes all forms of birth control approved by the Food and Drug Administration, even the morning after pill, which causes a lot of controversy for religious groups as well. When I told my friends how great I thought this bill was unless you worked for a religious college or other religious institution they commented to me that the women choose to work there and could just work somewhere else. I realized this person has never been unemployed and never had to leave a job to find a new one. While it is your choice to work at a particular place, with a tough economy and job market I would think some women would think twice about leaving their job or declining a job offer. I think this is a step in the right direction, but still leaves a lot of women treated unfairly. What do others think?

8/27/11

3rd Annual Love You Body 5K!!!



It is hard to believe but the CT NOW Foundation's 3rd Annual Love Your Body 5K is less than two months away!! What began as a simple idea has blossomed into an empowering, inspirational event for women and men of all ages!

We are thrilled to announce that race registration has opened!! If you are interested in joining us at the West Hartford Reservoir on October 22nd for this amazing event please send in your registration form today!!

We are also in the midst of collecting our final sponsors! If you know a companyor an individual who would be interested in sponsoring our race, please encourage them to do so!

If you have a questions about the race please feel free to visit our website,www.now-ct.org or email us at president@now-ct.org !

We look forward to seeing you on October 22nd!

8/26/11

What do we need to yank the country out of The Long Recession? Women!

It was women who came to the rescue of the desperate economy during World War II. Remember the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter and the message: Uncle Sam Needs You! By the end of the war, 6 million women had answered the government's call.

Today, the women's movement is asleep at exactly the moment that the country most needs skilled women to stimulate our economy. With women outpacing men in college and advanced degrees, they have proven their competitive advantage. And with the majority of married households depending on dual incomes, both women and men need to be paid what they deserve.

Younger Boomer women — now in their mid-40s to mid-50s — took for granted the opportunities opened up by pioneers of the Boomer and Silent generations. Many are not aware that the old disparities are stuck fairly close to where they were when my generation of feminist leaders passed the baton. Today white women make an average of about 78 cents for every dollar earned by men; for women of color it's worse: about 71 cents for African-American women and 62 cents for Latino women. Is it any wonder that female-headed households have the lowest incomes?

What will it take for younger Boomer women, suffering record levels of low well-being, to insist upon income parity? They must organize to elect women to represent their interests. For the first time in 30 years, the numbers of women elected to Congress declined in 2010. The same trend is seen in corporate boardrooms and state legislatures.

Kristen Gillibrand is 45 years old, a rising star in Congress, mother of two, and determined to wake women up.

The New York senator believes it is vital that women's economic potential be unleashed to bring the country out of its economic malaise. "If women earned dollar for dollar what men do," she says, "it could raise the GDP by 9%! This affects every American family."

Gillibrand has created a website, OfftheSidelines.org, to call women to action. It offers stories of female role models and guidelines on how to organize women at the grass roots. When women join men at the table in the political or corporate arena, they change the conversation.

Gillibrand herself is a model of today's activist working mother. Before she was in the Senate, she was one of five female members of the House of Representativesappointed to the Armed Services Committee by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The men talked mostly about missiles. The women talked mostly about people — how to repair the minds and bodies of soldiers returning from our two wars.

"We elevated the issue of mental health, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury," Gillibrand says proudly. The committee then voted the resources to provide care. Once having gained her seat on that influential committee, she wasn't about to give up her voice during an important markup just because she was nine months pregnant. She sat through a marathon session of 13 hour and started experiencing pre-labor contractions. She laughs about it now, but "it was excruciating." She got her own amendment passed for veterans. A few hours after she got home at 10 p.m., she was rushed to the hospital to deliver her second child.

Rep. Gabby Giffords, another woman on that House Armed Services Committee, did not allow her torturous recovery from a bullet through her brain to keep her from traveling to Washington, D.C., in August to cast her vote on the default.

These are the Rosie the Riveters for this generation. Until women take their rightful place in leadership in the political and corporate arenas, the decisions affecting their lives will not be enlightened and the country's economic recovery will not substantially improve.


8/24/11

Want to Learn How to Negotiate a Better Salary?

One of the leading reasons women are paid less than men is they do not negotiate for a higher salary and better benefits.

To give women the tools to empower themselves, CT NOW will be hosting a pay negotiation workshop on Thursday, September 22, 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the Social Hall of the Hamden Library at 2901 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden (enter in the back of the building).

Dr. Shannon Lane will be leading the workshop that will provide an overview of pay negotiation strategy and help women hone the skills necessary for successful negotiation.

The fee is $15 if registered by September 19th, $20 at the door. To register, email president@now-ct.org.

Light refreshments will be served.


CT NOW is excited to launch a three part women's empowerment series with this event. Look for future workshops on stress management and retirement planning on our website, www.now-ct.org.





8/23/11

3rd Annual Love You Body 5K!!!


It is hard to believe but the CT NOW Foundation's 3rd Annual Love Your Body 5K is less than two months away!! What began as a simple idea has blossomed into an empowering, inspirational event for women and men of all ages!
We are thrilled to announce that race registration has opened!! If you are interested in joining us at the West Hartford Reservoir on October 22nd for this amazing event please send in your registration form today!!
We are also in the midst of collecting our final sponsors! If you know a company or an individual who would be interested in sponsoring our race, please encourage them to do so!
If you have a questions about the race please feel free to visit our website, www.now-ct.org or email us at president@now-ct.org !
We look forward to seeing you on October 22nd!

8/22/11

CT NOW's Activist of the Month Award



For the last two years CT NOW has been awarding CT residents who are leaders for women's rights. I wanted to take time out in this blog to highlight these "Activist of the Month" recipients. Our award recipients range from people who are doing an extraordinary job in their positions at local non-profits and government agencies to teenagers who spend their spare time raising money for a cause that helps others better their lives.


The last few recipients have been very impressive. For our April award we chose Shannon Knall, who cares for an Autistic child while being a key leader in Autism Speaks and reaching out to legislators to get legislation passed. The May award went to Ellen Billard, who has been instrumental in getting legislation passed for low-income women and children. Our most recent award recipient for June was Olivia Baker. She is a thirteen year-old who has been fundraising since she was eight and continues to raise money for her Windham Area Interfaith Ministry's Walk for Warmth and sends donations to Africa with the help of her friends.


We will be announcing our July and August recipients soon and highlighting them regularly in CT NOW's quarterly newsletter. To read about all of our award recipients click here. If you have someone that you would like to nominate email Laura Bachman at LBachman32@yahoo.com.

Washington State University fined over 82K for failure to report rapes

From feministing.com:


Washington State University fined over 82K for failure to report rapes

By Vanessa Published: August 22, 2011
The Department of Education announced this weekend that it will be fining Washington State University $82,500 for failing to address two campus sexual assaults in 2007, as well as due to their lack of campus safety policies:
The university’s three violations of the main federal law on campus-crime reporting, the Clery Act, endangered Washington State students and employees who rely on campus-crime statistics and statements, a federal education official wrote in a letter to the college’s president, Elson S. Floyd.
[...] In one case at Washington State, the letter said, a woman told a campus police official that she had been raped by her husband’s friend. The incident was classified as a “domestics dispute” instead of a forcible sex offense, a mistake that the university later acknowledged, the letter said.
In a second incident, an employee reported a dormitory rape to the campus police that was omitted from campus reports because a records manager decided the case was unfounded. Under the Clery Act, only a law-enforcement official should make such a determination, the letter said.
Washington State also failed to make public certain policies, such as how it prepared crime statistics or imposed sanctions for sex offenses. The college has since corrected its policies, but the 2007 violations remained, the letter said.
While this is just one school (not to mention a monetary fine isn’t exactly a perfect vision of justice), this is still a really important step. It’s part of a larger decision that was made by the Department of Education to review dozens of colleges to ensure they are complying with the Clery Act, which came after a ton of recent reports on the sexual assault epidemic on college campuses — and more importantly, the subsequent lack of action taken by schools to address them.
There’s a reason why 95% of sexual assaults on campus aren’t reported. Let’s hope schools continue to be held accountable, and start taking the idea of campus safety policies seriously.


8/20/11

Equal Pay for Equal Work


Christine Bork
CEO, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
Posted: 8/19/11 05:38 PM ET Huffington Post

Just a few months ago, the Supreme Court made a historical ruling impacting the future of pay discrimination in this country. The court, in a five to four decision, ruled in favor of retail giant Wal-Mart against a group of its female employees. Wal-Mart was facing a possible class action lawsuit on behalf of its female workers who were not promoted and were paid less than their male counterparts for similar work. Not only does the ruling make it more difficult for women, minorities and other discriminated groups to find justice in the courts, it weakens the legal case for equal pay for equal work in this country.

The fact remains that in 2011, women, as a whole, still earn less than men in the United States. According to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, women who work full-time earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. For women of color, the numbers are worse. African American women only earn approximately 61 cents and Latinas only 52 cents for each dollar earned by a white man.

On a state-by-state basis, the numbers show an even more telling story. In Illinois, on average, a woman working full time is paid $37,841 per year, while a man working full-time is paid $49,336 per year. This creates a wage gap of $11,495 -- money that could be used to purchase food, housing and rent for these women and their families. Over a lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average woman and her family $700,000 to $2 million in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions. As the CEO of an organization committed to providing economic opportunities for women, I find these numbers simply unacceptable.

Many critics believe pay differences between men and women are simply a matter of personal choices, like women choosing to take time off to raise children. Research proves otherwise. In 2007, The American Association of University Women (AAUW) addressed this argument in astudy that analyzed earnings data for female and male college graduates one year and 10 years after college graduation. The organization found that just one year after graduation, women earned only 80 percent of what their male counterparts made. Ten years after graduation, women were earning even less -- 69 percent of what men earned.

When we think of how far we've come with women's rights -- ensuring women's right to vote, reproductive justice and equal protection under the law from harassment, it can be easy to feel complacent. It can be easy to look at the progress we've made and feel reassured that someday we will eventually reach the goal of full pay equality. However, what we often fail to calculate in this equation is the work that was done to get us to this point -- the marches, the calls, the meetings, the letters. And in my opinion, it's time to begin working again.

One of the key ways to change this disparity is to educate individuals about the issue of pay inequity. In an effort to create a dialogue surrounding this issue, organizations have created events including the national Equal Pay Day, which serves as a day to hold coordinated activities to raise awareness about how to address wage inequity. Last April, the YWCA joined fourteen other organizations and government agencies to sponsor an Equal Pay Day rally in Daley Plaza. And though the rally was a tremendous success, efforts like Equal Pay Day can be only the beginning in addressing this issue if we truly want to achieve pay equity in this country.

To develop a legal precedent, especially in light of the Supreme Court's ruling, we need to ensure passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act to provide future protection against pay inequities in the workplace. The Paycheck Fairness Act, currently being considered by Congress, expands the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The bill, which was reintroduced to the both the House and the Senate this April after failing to pass in the Senate in 2010, makes it easier for individuals who are victims of wage discrimination to address the issue. The Paycheck Fairness Act would do the following:

• Allow victims of gender wage discrimination to receive damages.
• Make it easier for individuals who are victims of wage discrimination to file class action lawsuits.
• Prevent punishment of employees who share salary information with co-workers.
• Tighten employer rules concerning defense of a gendered pay differential.

Many organizations are taking a lead on helping to organize our efforts. Women Employed, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading national advocate for women's economic advancement and is helping equal pay supporters petition Congress. And the National Committee on Pay Equity is working to increase individual awareness and reaching out to legislators to educate them about these issues. Working together, we will eventually reach a place where equal pay is synonymous with equal work in this country. My hope is that it happens much sooner rather than later.

Follow Christine Bork on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YWCAChicagoCEO

8/19/11

CT NOW WANTS TO KNOW: Should You Take His Last Name?

Should Women Change Their Last Names After Marriage?

Women Change Last Name

First Posted: 8/16/11 08:13 AM ET Updated: 8/17/11 08:20 AM ET


If there's a group of women with a notable last name right now, it would have to be the Kardashians. But the fame attached to that name isn't keeping middle sister Kim from dropping her celebrity moniker when she weds New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries this weekend. And the future Mrs. Humphries will hardly be alone in her decision to take her husband's name.

In March, the wedding website TheKnot.com surveyed nearly 19,000 women who got married last year. Of those women, 86 percent took their husband's name. The practice of women keeping their names, first introduced in the U.S. by suffragette Lucy Stone in the 20s and popularized during the Women's Rights Movement of the early 70s, peaked in the 1990s at 23 percent. By the 2000s, only 18 percent of women were keeping their names, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Social Behavior and Personality. Now, according to TheKnot, it's at just 8 percent.

But the fact that most women are willing to change their names doesn't mean the decision is an easy one. Making that choice can bring up all sorts of emotions -- and we're not just talking about the homicidal urges prompted by back-to-back visits to the DMV and the Social Security office.

"I'm not a Kardashian, but I still had a whole life based on my name," said Baily Bernius, 24, who works for a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., and was known as Baily Tombs until she got married last year and took her husband's name. "It was a bittersweet thing," she said.

So why did she do it?

"It's kind of a way to show the world that I'm part of a new family now and that I'm proud to take my husband's name," Bernius said. Her desire to do that, she said, outweighed her occasional feelings of envy toward the girls her brothers date.

"I sometimes think about that: Whoever my brothers marry, they're going to inherit what I consider to be an awesome name," she said. "I look at their girlfriends and I'm like, 'You need to earn this name.'"

There are a myriad of options when it comes to the name-change debate: you can keep your name, take his, take his last name and make your maiden name your middle name, take his last name legally but keep yours professionally, or hyphenate the two names (TheKnot's survey found that just 6 percent of women hyphenated their names last year, and the practice seems to get a collective "no thanks" from women in wedding website community forums).

Women who keep their names have tended to marry older, have higher levels of education and are more likely to work in medicine, the arts or entertainment than women who take their husband's names, according to the 2009 study. But when women who've built entire brands on their maiden names are giving them up -- like Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry, who's legally Mrs. Brand now -- the trend can seem even more pervasive.

Women "view it as some crazy glue holding their marriage together," said Claudia Goldin, a Harvard economics professor. In 2004, Goldin studied the New York Times' marriage announcements, Massachusetts birth records and Harvard alumni records, and found that fewer college-educated women were keeping their names than in the 1970s and 1980s.

The reasons women cite for taking their spouse's surname vary: some like the tradition of it, and others find it romantic. In some cases, it's more important to their husbands, and some feel it will be more convenient once they have children. Some women even argue, counterintuitively, that taking their husband’s name is a feminist choice.

"I wouldn't say I'm militant, but I do consider myself a hard-core feminist," said Renee Powers, who is 25 and living outside Chicago. Her name was Renee Woodward until she got married two years ago and took her husband's name.

"We operate as a team and now we have a team name," she said. "God that sounds cheesy, but it's true."

Powers, who is getting a master's degree in new media and women's studies, argued that her decision doesn't conflict with her belief in female equality and autonomy.

"We recognize all the hard work that came out of the women's movement, everything that [members of the movement] did to get us to this place," she said. "My decision to change my name was absolutely a feminist choice. It was made with intention. It was educated."

Stephanie Coontz, a professor of history and family studies at Evergreen College and author of several books about American family structure, said that many of the women who changed their names in the 1970s did so in response to inequality that had been built in to marriage for so long.

"Marriage made a wife not seen and not heard. It legally did so," Coontz said, noting that during research for a recent book, she came across the story of a woman who couldn't get an apartment without the permission of her husband, who was in an insane asylum.

According to Diana Boxer, a professor of linguistics at the University of Florida who studies gender and language, today's feminists aren't concerned by many of the issues that riled feminists in the past.

"It's not so much, 'I am woman hear me roar,'" Boxer said. "The women of this generation feel we are roaring enough."

Boxer argued that the number of women changing their names today can in part be explained by an uptick in the cultural emphasis on romance.

"They're into the whole idea of, 'I've always waited for my Mr. Perfect, and now that I'm going to get married, I want to do everything the romantic way,'" she said.

A 2009 survey by researchers at Indiana University showed that 71 percent of respondents believed a woman should change her name, and half of those respondents went so far as to say the practice should be legally required. These numbers may help to explain why those who keep their names are sometimes criticized for their choice.

When writer Julia Porter blogged about deciding to keep her name, commenters accused her of not really loving her husband. It's not an uncommon response -- women who blog or post to online forums that they are keeping their names are often asked whether they are really committed.

Some women and their fiancés sidestep the decision -- and potential judgment -- by taking a different path altogether.

Eric Jankstrom, 28, formerly Eric Jankowsky, works in television in New York and is among the small number of men giving up part of their names. He and his wife Laura Lindstrom got married last August and are calling themselves the Jankstroms.

"My wife is a very progressive woman," Jankstrom said. "She was like, 'I don't like your last name. I’m never going to be an 'owksy.'"

The couple agreed there was something appealing about creating a new family tree, and they’ve since dreamed of what the Jankstroms might accomplish.

"We were like, imagine if there was President Jankstrom. How cool would that be?"

Emily Zeugner, 32, who works in media in New York, and her husband, Amos Kenigsberg, made a similar decision -- they changed their last name to Zeeberg.

Ms. Zeeberg explained that changing her name would have sent a message she wasn't comfortable with, one that that effectively said, "I'm shedding my identity, I'm joining your family."

"As a feminist, it really bugged me," she said. "I'm glad that we created our new identity."

After the two married, they received a wedding invitation addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Amos Kenigsberg.

"I just saw the envelope, and I felt such annoyance, and on a small scale, kind of outraged," she said. "He gets full billing and his full name, and the only thing I get is Mrs. It just really pissed me off."

The new last name was hard for both of them to get used to at first, she said, and her husband got a lot of comments from surprised Facebook friends. But now?

“It's just, we're the Zeebergs, and it seems totally normal and natural," Ms. Zeeberg said. "I don’t know why more people don’t do it, I feel like it should be the wave of the future."

There's no sign that nuptial portmanteaus are sweeping the nation -- yet -- but that's not so surprising, considering how attached some men are to their names, and to everyone else in the family taking those names.

Kate Sullivan, 33, a New Jersey wedding planner who was married in January, plans to take her husband’s name, Corpuz.

Though Sullivan said her husband wouldn’t have kicked and screamed if she kept her maiden name, it certainly mattered to him: Even the couple’s dog, Baily, who currently has both of their last names (separated by a hyphen) will soon have his official surname changed.

Sullivan said her husband has asked her several times to take care of the matter. "He's appalled that [the dog] is Sullivan" at the vet, she said. "I’m going to feel like an idiot trying to explain it."