Issue Position: Gender Equality

Issue Position

Joe Sestak believes in building better lives and futures for working families -- particularly America's women. Today, women earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men earn and 12 percent of women are their family's main wage earner. To ensure the opportunity for a more secure future for women and their families, Joe believes we need to ensure that women are not only provided fair wages, but also benefits that are based on their performance; equal rights to challenge unfair labor practices, secure health and safety -- including the right to choose -- skill training in fields that are underrepresented by women; and secure retirements and pensions that guarantee their independence and economic security in the coming years.

SUMMARY OF FUTURE INITIATIVES

EXPANDING WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Expand career and technical education for women in non-traditional fields: Support major federal investment in pre-vocational and vocational programs that are geared at improving women's participation and employment in non-traditional fields.

Address gender inequality in the treatment of women and girls with disabilities-- only 56% of teenage girls with disabilities receive job training assistance.

Increase Women's Access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education: High school girls represent only 17 percent of computer science Advanced Placement test takers. Joe believes women and schools should be provided incentives for encouraging higher participation in STEM by providing loan forgiveness programs for women that apply technical education skills to public projects and offer schools, colleges, and vocational programs incentives for admitting and graduating women.

SUPPORTING WOMEN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Make Small Business Lending more Accessible to Women: Make the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Community Express Program permanent. The program represents approximately one out of every four SBA loans to women and minorities.

EXPAND HEALTH SECURITY FOR WOMEN

Maintain Reproductive Rights in Health Reform: As a member of the House Education and Labor

Committee, Joe is working to ensure that women's access to reproductive health is not restricted under urgently needed healthcare reform efforts.

Eliminate Gender Disparities in Healthcare Coverage: Prevent health insurers from rating

premiums based on gender and ensuring coverage for women's healthcare, including reproductive coverage.

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