Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • The 19th Explains: Why the nursing shortage isn’t going away anytime soon

        Mariel Padilla · September 23
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights

        Kate Sosin · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why baby formula is still hard to find months after the shortage

        Mariel Padilla · December 1
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Election workers believe in our system — and want everyone else to, too

        Barbara Rodriguez, Jennifer Gerson · November 8
      • Voter ID laws stand between transgender people, women and the ballot box

        Barbara Rodriguez · October 14
      • Emily’s List expands focus on diverse candidates and voting rights ahead of midterm elections

        Errin Haines · August 30

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News from reporters who represent you and your communities.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

An estimated 29 million people are experiencing food insecurity, much of it driven by the pandemic. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Business & Economy

Four new executive orders could give women an outsized economic boost

The orders, two of which Biden will sign Friday, will provide additional food aid, raise the minimum wage for federal workers, as well as extend eviction moratoriums and student debt deference.

Chabeli Carrazana

Economy Reporter

Chabeli Carrazana portrait

Published

2021-01-22 04:00
4:00
January 22, 2021
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

For the latest news on the historic presidential inauguration and impacts of the new administration, subscribe to The 19th’s daily newsletter.

President Joe Biden expects to sign two executive orders Friday, one aimed at getting the country closer to a $15-an-hour minimum wage for federal contractors, and another calling for immediate increases in food assistance for families and children most in need of economic support. 

Under an executive order targeted at expanding protections for federal workers, Biden will direct agencies to review which workers earn less than $15 an hour and will develop recommendations to increase their wages. Earlier this month, the minimum wage for federal workers increased by 15 cents to $10.95.  

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Last week, in the “Rescue” economic plan he released, Biden suggested raising the overall federal minimum wage for all workers to $15; it currently stands at $7.25. Raising the minimum wage would largely benefit the women workers, who make up the bulk of the nation’s low-wage workforce. 

The president hopes to issue another executive order within his first 100 days in office that will officially require federal contractors to pay the $15 minimum wage and offer workers emergency paid leave. The first coronavirus stimulus package, the CARES Act, offered workers two weeks of paid sick leave and an additional 10 weeks of paid family and medical leave, but the provisions of the law expired at the end of December. Women make up about half of federal contractors.

“These steps are designed to help ensure the federal government is a model employer … And to make sure that when we are using taxpayer dollars through federal contracts, that we are directing that to employers who give their workers the pay and benefits they’ve earned,” said Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council. 

The other executive order Biden will sign Friday will focus on assistance to help the estimated 29 million people who are suffering with hunger insecurity, much of it driven by the pandemic. That hunger crisis has devastated mothers most of all, with more than a quarter of mothers reporting that they are struggling to feed their children. 

Stories by experienced reporters you can trust and relate to.

Delivered directly to your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Biden will ask the Department of Agriculture to consider increasing the amount of money available to low-income families to pay for food for children who are missing in-person school and can’t otherwise rely on school-provided meals. The current program, offered through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, allocated $5.70 per child per school day. Biden is asking for an increase of about 15 percent. 

The executive order will also ask the department to consider widening the emergency allotment available due to the pandemic under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the lowest income families. 

About 40 percent of SNAP-eligible households already use the maximum amount of funds under the program. The Trump administration fought in federal court last year to block those households from accessing the additional emergency aid. Biden’s plan would remove that block, a move it estimates could help an additional 12 million people. 

“In whole, this executive order is really about marshaling the entire federal government to try to take what concrete emergency actions we can to help working families with the resources they need right now,” Deese said.

How Biden’s “Rescue” plan helps women

  • Biden to announce his $1.9 trillion economic plan. Much of it will help women.

The most recent stimulus package passed in December also increased the benefits for SNAP, a program that supports women and children most, by 15 percent for six months. Biden’s “Rescue” plan wants to further extend those benefits through September, plus an additional 15 percent increase, as well. The plan also proposes another $3 billion in funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC. 

The executive orders are part of a flurry Biden has signed in his first days as president, many of them helping the women who have been hit hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic. 

Already this week, Biden signed two key executive orders that will specifically affect Black women most: an extended eviction moratorium and a pause on student loan payments. 

On Wednesday, Biden asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to consider extending the federal eviction moratorium, set to expire at the end of this month, through at least the end of March. The CDC had issued the moratorium last September as a means of curbing the spread of the virus. 

How evictions impact Black women

  • Americans were told to stay home. Black women are most at risk of losing theirs.

Historically, Black women have been the most vulnerable to eviction. Studies have shown that landlords filed evictions against Black women at double the rate of White people in some states. Since the start of the pandemic recession, Black women have lost their jobs at some of the highest rates of any group, and many who work in low-income jobs lack the financial cushion to pay for rent in the case that they lose work. 

Even with moratoriums in place most of the year, some 220,000 evictions have been filed in the 27 major cities tracked by Eviction Lab, a national eviction database. And many of those have gone to Black women who are heads of households. 

Following Biden’s request, the CDC agreed to the extension on Wednesday. 

“Despite extensive mitigation efforts, COVID-19 continues to spread in America at a concerning pace,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement. “We must act to get cases down and keep people in their homes and out of congregate settings — like shelters — where COVID-19 can take an even stronger foothold.”

Under Biden’s larger “Rescue” plan, he proposes extending the moratorium as long the end of September, while also allocating an additional $30 billion in rent relief to the hardest-hit households. 

The president also asked the Department of Education to extend the current pause on interest and payments for direct federal loans until the end of September. The current pause was set to expire at the end of this month. 

The Education Department also followed through with Biden’s request on Wednesday, extending the suspension and holding the interest rate at zero. 

“Too many Americans are struggling to pay for basic necessities and to provide for their families,” the department said in a statement. “They should not be forced to choose between paying their student loans and putting food on the table.”

Biden has yet to go as far as canceling at least a portion of the national student loan burden, but has instead expressed interest in forgiving up to $10,000 in debt. 

Women as a whole hold about two-thirds of the nation’s nearly $1.6 trillion student loan burden, and Black women have more debt than any group, according to a study by the American Association of University Women. On average, Black women borrow almost $10,000 more in student loans than White men.

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Help sustain what we started

Your monthly investment is critical to our sustainability as a nonprofit newsroom.

Donate Today

Become a member

Up Next

A mother helps her son with his school work at home.

Business & Economy

America falls far behind in supporting women with paid sick leave. Will Biden help with a national policy?

With nominees to lead the Treasury, Labor and Commerce departments who are committed to paid sick leave, President Joe Biden’s administration is poised to perhaps move the needle toward a national policy. 

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram