PathWays PA Policy Blog

From our friends at MomsRising Raising the minimum wage helps women and it helps families. Women account for 55% of all workers who would benefit from increasing the minimum wage to $10.10. In addition, 28% of minimum wage workers have children. And what about that wage gap? Women already are at a disadvantage, earning less on average than men. The gap only increases for women of color and low-wage workers. Working moms now make up about 40% of primary breadwinners for American families with children, but are bringing home 23% less than their male counterparts. Less pay means less ability for moms to provide the basics for their children like food, medicine, and housing, as well as longer term needs like college tuition. If you want to close the wage gap and pull families out of poverty, Congress needs to raise the minimum wage, because working year round, full-time at the current federal minimum wage adds up to less than $15,000 per year. Make your voice echo through the hal

From our friends at the Coalition Human Needs More than 2 million unemployed Americans have lost their jobless benefits to date. At 2:00PM, a Twitter Storm will take place to bring attention to the issue. If you support extending unemployment insurance, you can take action now. Ask your congressional delegation members and House Speaker John Boehner to renew Unemployment Insurance. Here are some sample tweets. Please use #RenewUI (@your congressperson) Ask @SpeakerBoehner to schedule a UI floor vote ASAP with no harmful amendments; then please vote for it. #RenewUI  (@your congressperson) It is time to #RenewUI and help the thousands of unemployed workers in #PA - Ask@SpeakerBoehner to bring UI to the floor   (@your congressperson) It is time to #RenewUI and help the thousands of unemployed workers in #PA - Ask@SpeakerBoehner to bring UI to the floor  If you can't participate in the twitter storm, there are other ways to help .

From our friends at MomsRising The Strong Start for America's Children Act would increase access to affordable, high-quality preschool and early learning and child care programs for children under age 5 through state and federal partnerships. Your help is needed to ask Senators co-sponsor the Strong Start for America's Children Act to make early childhood education a priority. It's time for the Strong Start for America's Children Act. Senators need to hear from voters like you today . PathWays PA partners with MomsRising and other organizations to educate elected officials on the need for early childhood investment.

From our friends at the National Women's Law Center The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a common-sense piece of legislation that would require employers to make reasonable accommodations when workers need them because of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions — just as they are already required to do for disabilities. 35 years ago the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was signed into law. But there is obviously a lot more work to do.  Ask your Senators to support the Pregnant Worker Fairness today with this personal message ! Learn more .

From our friends at Keystone Progress On Friday, May 30 from 9:00AM-4:00PM in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania Women and Families Economic Summit will meet and strategize with other Pennsylvanians who care about the economic equality and security of women and families to organize around the local, state and national initiatives to promote these policies. You can be a part of the conversation to devise a coordinated state strategy to bring about the common sense policies that support women and families that we need in Pennsylvania. GOALS: Gather all groups, advocates and committed Pennsylvanians who work on issues facing women and families in Pennsylvania.  Provide an overview of the current state policies on women's economic equality and security, how they impact Pennsylvanians and what we can do to make them stronger.  Help plan and strategize coordination across various groups and goals. This conversation is most valuable if the key members of each group can be coordinated.

PathWays PA is excited to announce that we will be partnering with the U. S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, The Free Library of Philadelphia and the EEOC for a discussion on women and the workplace. The event will take place on Monday, May 5, from 2:00PM-4:00PM in room 108 of the Philadelphia Free Library Parkway Central Branch located at 1901 Vine Street. Topics to be discussed include: Equal Pay  Paid Leave  Compensation/Wages Negotiation  Register for the event by calling the Women's Bureau at 215-861-4864 or sign up online . All attendees will receive a negotiation checklist to take home with them. PathWays PA actively advocates for equal protections in the workplace, equal pay and paid leave on the local, state and national levels.

The last day to register to vote in the Pennsylvania primary election is April 21. Pennsylvania's primary election is May 20, 2014. Polls are open from 6:00AM-7:00PM. If you haven't registered to vote or need to change your polling place, there is still time! You can download a voter registration form here . Paper copies are also available at your nearest post office and at the PathWays PA office located at: 310 Amosland Rd Holmes, PA 19043. For more information, www.votespa.com

Today is Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how far women must work in the new year to catch up to what men earned last year. There are a number of activities scheduled across the country, including a TweetStorm at 2PM that will use the hashtags #EqualPayDay and #NoMadMenPay. As part of Equal Pay Day, President Obama is expected to announce two new executive orders on equal pay, while the Senate plans to take up the Paycheck Fairness Act today or tomorrow. Closing the wage gap is important to all families, not just to women. Each year, families lose the equivalent of 89 weeks worth of food or 3,000 gallons of gasoline because of unequal pay. Today is a day that you can take action on this issue by speaking to your legislators and by supporting women and girls who are working to make change in our region. This Equal Pay Day, please make plans to join Friends of the Delaware County Women's Commission in paying tribute to Delaware County women at the Friends' Annual Dinner on

From our friends at MomsRising Today is Equal Pay Day, the day we mark as the point when women's earnings (beginning on January 1, 2013) catch up with men's earnings for 2013. Today is also the day that the Senate will once again take up the Paycheck Fairness Act. Passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act is an important step in the campaign to close the wage gap. The Paycheck Fairness Act would, among other things, prohibit employers from retaliating against workers who discuss salaries with colleagues. It would also require employers to prove that any pay differences exist for legitimate, job-related reasons. As an organization that works with women and families, PathWays PA knows the value of equal work for equal pay. The money that families lose to the pay gap each year could cover 89 weeks worth of food or 3,000 gallons of gasoline per family. Now is the time to make sure Senators are listening and to tell them if you support the Paycheck Fairness Act!

VIsit  http://bit.ly/1pVBz0E to learn more #Tweetaboutit Tuesdays are chats happening on Twitter every Tuesday in April as a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Join experts and the online community for a live discussion. Tuesday, April 8 @ 2pm EST: Healthy teen sexuality. Hosted by Sex, Etc. ( @sexetc ). Sex ed perspectives on teen relationships, communication and consent. Tuesday, April 15 @ 2pm EST: Creating change on campus. Hosted by SAFER Campus ( @safercampus ), Students Active for Ending Rape on best practices for campus reform and prevention. Tuesday, April 22 @ 2pm EST: Engaging LGBTQ Youth. Hosted by Advocates for Youth ( @advocatestweets ). Creating spaces for all youth voices and inclusive outreach to LGBTQ young people. Tuesday, April 29 @ 2pm EST: #SAAM 2014 recap and feedback. Hosted by NSVRC ( @NSVRC ) Share your #SAAM highlights, feedback and ideas. How to participate: Log in to Twitter.com each Tuesday in April at 2pm EST and search #Tweet

From our friends at PHAN As more and more people benefit from the ACA across the country, some people are still falling through the cracks. In some states, individuals and families who earn too much for Medicaid but not enough to afford health insurance can take advantage of Medicaid Expansion. In Pennsylvania, Governor Corbett has chosen to propose a different health care model to the US government, and is waiting for their decision. Right now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is reviewing Governor Corbett's proposed alternative "Healthy PA" plan. Under this plan, thousands of current Medicaid enrollees could see their coverage and access drastically reduced. The public comment period to have your voice heard on the Governor's "Healthy PA" plan ends April 10. Please tell CMS how you feel about "Healthy PA" . Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians are stuck in the a gap right now - earning to o much to qualify for Me

From our friends at the Coalition on Human Needs As of April 5, more than 2 million unemployed workers have lost jobless benefits. The Senate will vote tonight on final passage of the bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. Please don't leave anything to chance: Speak to your Senators about how you want them to vote. And tell the House to take a vote. Ask Congress to vote to restore Emergency Unemployment Compensation . Contact your Representative and ask him/her to urge Speaker John Boehner to bring up the Senate bill to restore Unemployment Compensation for a House vote ASAP.

The latest change to the Fair Practices Ordinance in Philadelphia is a win for PathWays PA, the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, and of course for pregnant women working in Philadelphia. Under the additional legislation, which was signed by Mayor Nutter in January 2014, employees who are pregnant or recently gave birth can ask for reasonable workplace accommodations without fear of losing their jobs. Under the law, those requests might include asking for bathroom or rest breaks, access to water, assistance lifting items or re-assignment with manual labor duties, for example. Employers in Philadelphia are required to post notification of the law by April 20 . The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations has issued a poster   that offers a plain-language explanation of the law. A downloadable electronic copy of the poster is available on the PCHR web site . Hard copies are available at the PCHR office and area chambers of commerce also have agreed to help their memb

While every month should be Child Abuse Prevention Month, April is when organizations around the country focus on bringing even more attention to the needs of parents and children. Today in Delaware County, PathWays PA and other local child welfare organizations received a resolution from County Council on behalf of Child Abuse Prevention Month. You can take action to prevent child abuse by sharing knowledge about effective parenting skills, child development milestones, and the needs of children. Throughout the month, the Child Welfare League of America will be posting tips and factsheets on Facebook and Twitter regarding child abuse prevention - just search for # CAPmonth .