A Political Campaign That Perpetuates the Myth That America is Inherently Unfair to Women

(WASHINGTON D.C.) – Today at 5:30pm EST President Barack Obama will accept a copy of Maria Shriver's annual report on the economic status on women. With a focus on financial insecurity, The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink, co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress, pushes government-centered policy prescriptions as solutions to American women's lives and wellbeing.  Sabrina Schaeffer, co-author of Liberty is No War on Women: How Big Government and Victim-Politics Undermine America's Progress and executive director of Independent Women's Forum, a leading conservative women's organization, released the following statement in response to the report:  

"A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink is a political campaign – reports, documentaries, events – intended to perpetuate the myth that America is inherently unfair to women and girls today, to encourage even greater dependence on the state, and to give government even more control over our lives. The report is very good at cataloging the challenges that women face, but ignores many of the causes of that hardship, instead doubling down on the government-knows-best approach.  

“The IWF understands there are real and legitimate difficulties 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. Improving the lives of women requires greater educational freedom, fewer taxes and regulations on businesses, a streamlined tax system that allows families to keep more of what they earn, a dynamic marketplace that offers high quality goods at affordable prices, and stable families and communities.

“Shriver and the Center for American Progress may sell new government programs as gold from heaven, but they ignore the very real costs of this intervention which is not just measured in tax dollars and increased government debt, but in fewer jobs, a less dynamic economy, and less individual freedom.  Indeed, our over-bearing government too often is women's worst enemy. “ 

RESOURCES:?
VIDEO: STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT THE WAGE GAP [3 minutes]
POLICY FOCUS: MINIMUM WAGE
FACT SHEET: WAGE GAP 
POLICY FOCUS: PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT

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www.iwf.org

Independent Women's Forum is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) research and educational institution dedicated to expanding the conservative coalition, both by increasing the number of women who understand and value the benefits of limited government, personal liberty, and free markets, and by countering those who seek to ever expand government in the name of protecting women.