Women Workers Bear Brunt of Inadequate Labor Laws, Says Author

The lack of paid family and sick leave disproportionately disadvantages women, said author Caroline Fredrickson, who discussed her new book, “Under the Bus: How Working Women are Being Run Over,” Monday at the AFL-CIO. Women comprise the majority of minimum wage workers, who largely lack paid leave or protection against discrimination, Frederickson said. Only 11% of American workers qualify for paid family leave, and most of them are men, who are more frequently employed in the highest paying jobs. But Fredrickson emphasized that while these issues are often mislabeled as women’s issues, they actually apply to all workers. “Men get sick too, last time I checked,” she pointed out. However, women are typically more affected because they usually have lower-paying jobs, and are often the ones responsible for childcare in the family. “Under the Bus” explores the issue through stories of women who are fired for staying home with their children, or who work without overtime in domestic jobs. “These are economic justice issues,” said Fredrickson, “and many women can’t afford to ‘opt out’ of the workforce.”
-Sivan Rosenthal

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