What We’re Not Hearing from Republicans: Issues that Matter to Women and Families

In April 2015, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) launched Presidential Gender Watch 2016, a project to track, analyze, and illuminate gender dynamics in the 2016 presidential election. With the help of expert scholars and practitioners, Presidential Gender Watch worked for 21 months to further public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in campaigns for the nation’s highest executive office. The blog below was written for Presidential Gender Watch 2016, as part of our collective effort to raise questions, suggest answers, and complicate popular discussions about gender’s role in the presidential race.

Since 2013, poll after poll after poll has shown that women are looking for results on the issues that matter most to them: the economic security issues like ending gender discrimination in pay, paid sick days, or paid family or medical leave. In other words, the issues that keep women and their families making ends meet.

For almost two years, American Women has been listening to women from across the country as they talk about their daily struggles, what keeps them up at night and what policy solutions they believe can make a real difference in their lives.

Here is what we know:

• The top concern for women is making enough money for their families’ bills and expenses.
• Gender discrimination in pay was the #1 workplace concern for working women.
• Men report more access to paid sick days and paid leave than women.
• 40% of working women believe they are paid less than men in their workplace.
• Across party lines, women—Democrats and Republicans alike–support fighting for economic security issues like equal pay for equal work, a higher minimum wage, paid sick days and paid family leave.
• But almost one year to Election Day, a stark contrast has already developed between Democrats and Republicans regarding their plans to help women and families get ahead.

During the Democratic presidential debate, paid family leave was mentioned three times by candidates. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Secretary Hillary Clinton and former Governor Martin O’Malley all discussed pay equity and making sure women were not disadvantaged for taking time for their families. In the September Republican debate? Paid family and medical leave, equal pay for equal work, or fair scheduling were not even mentioned.

Not one of the 15 Republican candidates has discussed the fact that women are two-thirds of minimum wage earners and the primary or co-breadwinners in 40% of families. Neither Donald Trump nor Ben Carson has addressed bringing more transparency to pay. Women and their families are still waiting to hear from Jeb Bush on his plan to make childcare affordable. Even Marco Rubio’s proposal for paid family leave would likely only help those at the very top and leave working families behind.

As the election cycle continues, we’ll be watching and listening to these important conversations. We’ll be listening in tonight’s debate to hear whether or not – and how – the Republican candidates address these issues. Will the Democrats’ emphasis on these issues push the GOP candidates to take a position? Will the dialogue over work-family balance started by likely-Speaker Paul Ryan heighten the saliency of this issue to Republican candidates or voters? Progress on these issues will require substantive political debate. Maybe that debate will start tonight.