Remarks of Secretary Jacob J. Lew at The 5th Annual Corporate Women in Finance Symposium

Good morning and welcome to the Treasury Department for this year's Corporate Women in Finance Symposium. I want to thank Rosie for the introduction, and for working tirelessly to bring this year's symposium together.

I also want to thank the team behind this event: The Treasury employees who helped Rosie make this day possible; The White House Council on Women and Girls and its chair, Valerie Jarrett, for continuing to support this important initiative; Catalyst and its CEO, Deborah Gillis, for their strong commitment to both making this year's symposium a success and making progress on this vital work.

I would also like to thank all the government officials, business leaders, and policy experts for joining us in this year's discussions.

At Treasury, we are proud and grateful that our leadership team includes some of the most accomplished women in finance. We have Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin, who does an incredible job making sure this department and our initiatives continue to benefit the American people; Assistant Secretary and Chief Economist Karen Dynan, who is helping design effective policies to keep our economy moving forward; Assistant Secretary Victoria Esser, who is instrumental in keeping the public informed about the department's policies and programs; Assistant Secretary Leslie Ireland, who plays a critical role in combating threats to the financial system and protecting our national security; and Assistant Secretary Marisa Lago, who brings tremendous expertise to advance trade, international investment, and global economic growth. And of course, the Treasurer of the United States, Rosie Rios, who, in addition to all of her regular responsibilities, has made today's symposium possible.

This is our fifth Women in Finance Symposium, and each of these gatherings has allowed us to bring together extraordinary women who are making a difference through their extraordinary contributions. At today's symposium, you are going to confront some of the most important challenges facing business leaders today, and through the upcoming panels and discussions on innovation and technology as well as corporate governance and workforce investment, we expect to learn from your experience and expertise to unlock strategies that will drive the private sector forward.

As we meet this morning, our nation is in a far stronger place than it was when the President took office. Over the past six years, our economy has emerged from the worst financial crisis in our lifetimes and is now in a better position to seize the future than any other nation around the globe. While growth in the first quarter of this year was disappointing, a number of temporary factors contributed to the sluggishness, and the consensus among private forecasters is that our economy will expand at a healthy pace for the rest of the year.

In fact, our businesses have created more than 12 million new jobs over the last five years. Unemployment has dropped from a high of 10 percent to 5.5 percent. Graduation rates are up. The housing market is improving. And consumer confidence is near its highest levels in years. At the same time, we have doubled clean energy production, raised fuel efficiency standards, and seen energy prices fall for consumers and businesses. America's automobile industry is leading an overall national resurgence in manufacturing. The security of health insurance has reached more than 16 million Americans, and the uninsured rate has dropped to a record low. All the while, we have maintained our commitment to fiscal responsibility--the deficit has shrunk by three quarters and is on pace to decline even further.

This progress is no accident. It is a result, in part, of tough decisions made by this administration--decisions that have stemmed from the basic idea that our economy works best when it works for everyone. But even as our recovery has allowed more Americans to achieve economic security, we have to take action so that our economic gains are sustainable and widely shared. We have to make the right policy choices so that there is more opportunity for more Americans.

In the President's most recent budget, we put forward concrete proposals to strengthen our economy today and for the future. A lot of the policies in the budget were designed specifically to help make sure women are full and equal participants in our economy because we know that when women succeed, our entire nation succeeds. In other words, we all have a stake in knocking down barriers for women.

Now, one of the most significant challenges facing women is that our workplaces still operate like they did generations ago--when it was considered common for only one spouse to have a job and child care was often seen as a woman's responsibility. Today, women make up roughly half of America's workforce, and women are the primary breadwinners in more households than ever before. To meet the new realities of middle class families, the President wants to lower taxes for families when both spouses work. He wants to create new tax credits to help pay for child care. And he wants to make it easier for parents to take paid leave so they can care for a new baby or an ailing mother or father.

The truth is, we are the only advanced economy without paid leave, and this hampers America's businesses. Sensible leave policies are good for business because they increase employee productivity and employee retention. For instance, after Google started allowing new parents to take five months of paid leave, the company saw the rate of women leaving the company fall by half.

Another serious problem facing women in America today is fair pay. Right now, the majority of low-wage workers in this country are women, and women still make less money than men for doing the same work. We can help women get ahead by following the example of states and cities across the country and raising the minimum wage. On top of that, Congress should pass the Paycheck Fairness Act--which would help put a stop to pay discrimination and allows workers to talk about salaries without running the risk of losing their jobs.

Finally, with more women graduating from college than men, taking steps to make college more affordable is as much a women's issue as it is an economic priority. The President has laid out a strategy to reduce the cost of higher education so young people can go to college without amassing enormous debt. His plan cuts taxes for families of college students and makes community college free as long as you work hard and act responsibly. In the 21st century, expanding access to community college will pay off for our economy many times over.

These are some of the steps we can take to make a difference for women and for our nation. Every single one of these policies is doable. We just need the will to move forward and get them done.

I want to close by pointing out how important it is that all of you are here. Your dedication, skill, and passion in the public and private sector moves our nation forward. It is critical to making America stronger and more prosperous. And I am confident that by working together we will forge solutions to meet the challenges ahead and bring about real and lasting change.

Thank you.

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