American Voters Overwhelmingly Support Economic Proposals That Aid Women

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American voters overwhelmingly favor proposals that would provide women equal treatment in the workplace and help them achieve a work-family balance, a new national survey shows.  The poll, sponsored by the Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund and conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Democracy Corps, found unprecedented levels of support for measures to aid working women. According to the poll:

• 90% of American voters favor policies that would help women get equal pay for equal work, and that would raise wages for women and families
• 87% favor expanding access to scholarships so women can train for the jobs of the future
• 75% support expanding access to affordable childcare for working moms
• 72% support expanding paid family, maternity, and sick leave for working families

"These poll results confirm that the vast majority of voters—men and women—support common-sense approaches to raise pay, benefits and opportunities for working women," said Page Gardner, Founder and President of the Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund. "Now that women are the primary breadwinners in a record 40 percent of US households, helping working women is ultimately about helping American families."

Unmarried women, a crucial voting bloc in the 2012 election, are even more enthusiastic about the plans. According to the poll, 95% of unmarried women favor policies that would help women get equal pay for equal work, and that would raise wages for women and families. A remarkable 91% favor expanding access to scholarships, and 89% support expanding access to affordable childcare.

Unmarried women, people of color and young people—a group called the Rising American Electorate—proved last November that demographic changes in the electoral landscape are permanent and decisive. Unmarried women made up 24% of the overall electorate in 2012, and two-thirds of them cast their ballots for President Obama. Marital status is a key predictor of whether and how one votes.  The Rising American Electorate made up almost half of the electorate (48% in 2012) and is one of the fastest growing demographic groups in America.

"America is changing. It is more diverse, and unmarried. Politicians who take for granted the support of unmarried women and the Rising American Electorate do so at their own peril," Gardner said. "That was true in the 2010 elections, when voter turnout dipped considerably. And it will be true again for the mid-term elections next year. Today, the issues that matter to the Rising American Electorate are the issues that truly move the needle in American politics."

Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501 (c)(4) organization founded in 2005 and dedicated to increasing the voting participation and issue advocacy of unmarried women.  Learn more at www.wvwvaf.org.

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SOURCE Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund