December 1997
Women's Economic Security is the Focus
of Labor Resource Center's Research
Cheryl Gooding, research coordinator at the Labor Resource Center, recently completed a study of factors that shape the economic status of women in Massachusetts. Gooding prepared the report, "Economic Security and Women in Massachusetts: An Overview of the Issues," for the Theresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation and the Women's Institute for Leadership Development ,a leadership training program for union women. The report is a first step towards broader research in the area of women's economic security.
According to Gooding, "women's economic security is a complicated picture of interwoven factors." In order to focus the picture, she examines four interconnected factors that affect a significant percentage of women. These include women's responsibility for family care, women's participation in the paid labor force; poverty and benefit programs for the most vulnerable women; and violence against women.
Gooding argues that even very differently-situated women share common problems. These include unpaid work for family care, pay equity, occupational segregation in low-wage jobs, the glass ceiling, cuts in public benefits programs that disproportionately affect women and their children, and domestic violence. Gooding's research shows that the paths to economic security for women include marriage, joining a union, and going to college.
The Heinz Foundation has invited Gooding to submit a proposal for broader, in-depth research on the economic status of women. The Foundation intends that this research will lay a foundation for policymaking aimed at promoting the economic security of women throughout the Commonwealth.