Republican leaders in Congress are rushing to vote this week on a bill that robs women, children, and families of their health care, food, and education – while giving new and costly tax breaks to billionaires.
Over 3.9 million disabled women are in the labor force. These women experience sexist and ableist discrimination at work and complex barriers to gaining and keeping employment. Disabled women’s labor force participation rate (22.3%) is less than a third of the rate for men without disabilities (73.6%). And when they do participate in the labor force, disabled women (7.5%) experience unemployment at nearly twice the rate of nondisabled men (3.9%). Among full time, year-round workers, disabled women are paid 68 cents for every dollar paid to nondisabled men, and 81 cents for every dollar paid to disabled men. Moreover, the wage gap widens when part-year and part-time workers are included: Disabled women are typically paid just 56 cents for every dollar paid to nondisabled men. In addition, disabled women working full time, year-round are paid 81 cents for every dollar paid to disabled men working full time, year-round, and when part-year and part-time workers are included, disabled women are paid just 78 cents for every dollar paid to disabled men.
We need public investments and economic policies that support economic opportunity and address the problematic inequities failing disabled women every day, robbing them of tens of thousands of dollars every year, and preventing them and their families from building wealth.