Matters related to childcare, elder care and equal pay have long been considered “women’s issues” but a new poll found a majority of voters now see them as solutions to today’s affordability crisis.
The Equal Rights Advocates Action Fund surveyed 1,000 likely midterm voters nationwide and nearly 60% said today’s economy is not working for them. More than 80% reported making difficult financial choices like reducing purchases, dipping into savings or carrying a credit card balance to cover rising costs.
Noreen Farrell, president and CEO of the fund, said voters increasingly see women’s economic security as key to their own family’s financial well-being.
"It's not just about the cost of living, it's about what puts money in your pocket and that's resonating across genders and parties in this poll," Farrell reported.
The poll showed more than 70% of voters want state and federal leaders to not just make America more affordable but to make progress within the next two years on specific policies like ensuring up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.
Farrell stressed lawmakers have available solutions to people’s economic pain and it is clear voters will hold them accountable. The poll showed voters — by a 3-to-1 margin — are more likely to back a candidate who works to lower healthcare prices or increase wages.
Valerie Holman, a single mother and caregiver living in Farmington Hills, Michigan, cares for her own mother, a retired teacher, who deals with Parkinson’s disease. She said it is unfair that in order for her mother to receive home healthcare through Medicaid, she cannot have more than $2,000 in the bank and must first sell her home and other assets.
"Why should we take all of that from her and all of her hard work just because she got old? It isn't right. I would love to see that on someone's platform, because living it day-to-day, it is completely overwhelming," Holman emphasized.
Holman added she pays double the cost of groceries compared to a year ago and drives further from home each week to fuel up on Costco’s cheaper gas.
She explained caregiving duties place the heaviest responsibility on women and add the most financial pressure, and it is a conversation she would like more political candidates to have.
