This month marked the 55th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day, a day to honor the women who fought for the right to vote and to recognize the generations who have continued their work to expand the rights of women, their opportunities and economic independence.
The right to vote was a historic milestone, but it was never meant to be the finish line. The same is true of women’s participation in the workforce. We should be proud of how far society has come in expanding women’s roles in the workplace, but a recent jobs report offers a sobering reminder: when economic conditions become difficult, women can be disproportionately affected — and progress toward equality can quickly stall.
According to a National Women’s Law Center analysis of July data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women accounted for 100% of the decline in the labor force last month. A total of 165,000 women left the labor force in July alone, and since January, the number of women in the labor force has fallen by 845,000. Nearly one in four unemployed women has been looking for work for six months or longer.
These numbers tell a larger story. Economic equality requires more than simply opening the doors to the workplace. Women need the resources, support and opportunities to enter the workforce, remain employed, advance in their careers and, when they choose, build businesses of their own.
At YWCA Northern New Jersey, we see every day what happens when women have access to these supports. We also see what happens when they do not. A woman may come to us during a significant life transition — whether she is rebuilding after violence, navigating a career change, raising children, or returning to the workforce. Her circumstances may be different, but her need is often the same: a clear path forward and someone to help her navigate the workforce.
Our Women of the Workforce program connects individuals with skilled social workers who help develop personalized workforce plans, set goals and identify resources to support their career journeys. For someone facing barriers to employment, that guidance can make the difference between feeling stuck and seeing a way forward.
Not every woman’s path to economic security runs through traditional employment. Our YW WE360 Business Essentials Program helps women entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses through step-by-step training, professional mentorship, and a supportive community.
Workforce participation is only part of the equation. Once women enter the workplace, they also need the knowledge and tools to advocate for fair compensation. That is why YWCA Northern New Jersey recently developed a Pay Equity Toolkit, which translates complex workplace and pay-equity laws into accessible guidance, helps women identify potential pay inequities and connects them with trusted resources. Economic security is not simply about having a job. It is about being fairly compensated for the work we do and having the ability to advocate for ourselves.
These programs are especially important now, but they are increasingly vulnerable. As I wrote earlier this year, YWCA Northern New Jersey has lost $1 million in funding over the past year. Our workforce development programs have been forced to operate with fewer resources even as demand continues to grow.
That creates a difficult contradiction: At the very moment women need stronger pathways into the workforce, the organizations providing those pathways are being asked to do more with less.
This should concern advocates, employers, policymakers, community leaders and philanthropists alike. When women can work, advance, and build economic security, families and communities benefit. When women are pushed out of the workforce, the consequences ripple through our economy. They affect our local economies, our businesses and our communities.
That is why donors and funders have such an important role to play. Supporting women’s economic security means investing across the full spectrum of opportunity: helping someone reenter the workforce, equipping an entrepreneur to grow her business, and ensuring that a woman has the knowledge and resources to advocate for fair compensation.
Women’s Equality Day gives us a moment to recognize how far we have come. The July jobs report reminds us how much work remains. We cannot simply celebrate the doors women have fought to open; we must make sure women have the support, resources and opportunities to walk through them, stay there and succeed. Honoring the progress women have made means investing in the progress still needed and ensuring that economic opportunity remains within reach for every woman ready to pursue it.
Helen Archontou is the CEO of YWCA Northern New Jersey.
