Is America inherently unfair to females? Do we need to expand government programs and invest in new ones in order to get women out of poverty and keep them above the poverty line?
Carrie Lukas, the managing director at the Independent Women’s Forum, believes the answer is a resounding, “No!” Lukas replies to the recent Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back From the Brink. There are a lot of negative issues with this report, but Lukas says the primary one is selling “American women on the progressive political agenda.” The overall message of the report: “women are under siege in America, and only bigger government can save them.”
Lukas notes the flaws in The Shriver Report:
There is no recognition that a higher minimum wage and more generous mandatory paid leave programs can destroy job opportunities for women, particularly women seeking flexible work arrangements. There is no discussion of how the war on poverty itself, by encouraging the breakdown of the family, has contributed to many women’s current predicaments. There is no consideration of how existing government regulations, from our regulations on energy, to food, to health care, drive up the cost of everything American families must buy and discourage job creation, robbing people – particularly those “on the brink” with the fewest skills – of desperately needed employment opportunities.
The Independent Women’s Forum, in response, is seeking real solutions to poverty in the U.S.:
Independent Women’s Forum understands there are real and legitimate difficulties and hardship that plague many women and their families. But ultimately we need long-term, sensible solutions and policies to help grow our economy, encourage job creation and a more flexible workplace, and increase opportunity for all Americans, women and men alike.
