Working families deserve safety & support
Our Response to COVID-19
Protecting our Communities
The strength and resilience of our communities rely on keeping working women and their families afloat.
The economic crisis flowing from COVID-19 hit women of color hard, especially those already working for poverty or unfair wages, and those without workplace protections, job security, or paid leave. Women comprise the largest segment of workers in the most dangerous essential industries, including food production and service, hospitality, retail, and domestic work, as well as 75% of healthcare and hospital workers.
At the same time, women of color are losing their jobs at higher rates overall in other fields during COVID-19. In December alone, Black and Latinx women accounted for 111% of the month’s 140,000 job losses, losing 156,000 jobs, while white women and men gained jobs. Additionally, these women are continually losing affordable child care options and experiencing higher rates of pandemic contraction and death, made even worse by the lack of paid sick days and affordable health care options available in their fields.
Justice and equity mean families trying to make it on poverty wages, or harmed by pay discrimination, can plan for the future — and be ready in emergencies. It means students and workers don’t need to experience delayed legal claims or investigations. It means workers who have complained of harassment or discrimination aren’t first on termination lists and last on rehire lists.
With your partnership, decades of progress for women and working families are gaining momentum. The laws we helped pass in California provide an example to other states of how to help low-paid essential workers workers weather crises with paid family and sick leave, fair pay for women of color, tax fairness for immigrant families, and more.
Justice & Equity Demand Action
The people closest to the problem are also closest to the solution. That is why ERA is listening and responding to communities harmed by COVID-19 through Telephonic Town Halls polling Black and Latinx women in cities across the country.
We’re also recommending 20 concrete policies to the White House under the Biden-Harris Administration, which will prioritize immediate and permanent relief for women of color essential workers, immigrant families, and LGBTQ+ students.
- Read our recommendations to the Biden-Harris Administration, and support them by signing our petition to the White House.
We will protect workers who are undocumented, domestic workers, hourly front line workers, service workers, and workers with children and care giving responsibilities from dangerous work conditions. They deserve job protection, income equality, paid leave, and safety — now and after COVID-19. Therefore, ERA is driving inclusive emergency legislation as well as permanent policy fixes. Our economic security policy campaigns support partners in states across the country with our Women’s Agenda Digital Hub and Rapid Response Policy Support Team.
Student survivors of campus violence and schools need support as campuses close and Trump Administration attacks on student survivors’ rights leave Title IX cases in limbo. That’s why we created our guide for Title IX Administrators with best practices, tips, and concrete recommendations. We continue to provide free legal support to students with Title IX cases through our ENOUGH program, and challenge the U.S. Department Education’s attempts to erode federal civil rights laws protecting students.
With your continued support, we are committed to policies and actions that build income security, create safety from harassment and violence, expand paid leave to everyone who needs it, and protect workers from discrimination based on sex and race.