- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 0
- 3
-
Sparkle (1)
Jobs. The economy. Small business. Start-ups. Venture capital. These perennial issues get a lot of play in posts and comments at BlogHer.com. Who better to add to the catalogue of information and affirmation about the role women have in those areas than Dr. Rebecca M. Blank, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and performs the duties of the Deputy Secretary?
Throughout her career, Dr. Blank has written extensively on family income issues, and on topics related to women’s labor force participation. She has worked on a host of related policies while at the Council of Economic Advisors in the 1990s and through her involvement with various policy advisory committees and boards.
Dr. Blank's biography is expansive and, frankly, a bit intimidating. But through a few questions to which she responded, it's clear that she is incredibly in touch with the challenges we face and the opportunities before us.
BH: Your 1998 book, It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty, was published more than a decade ago and yet it seems as though the choices being contemplated by the Obama administration and the US Congress couldn’t be more entangled in the issues you covered then (and that I know I studied as a sociology and government major in the early 1980s!). So two questions:
What steps do you think hold the most promise for extricating ourselves from these problems?
There’s no magic bullet for reducing poverty. After the recent deep recession, one of the most important things we can do is continue to grow the economy, assuring that jobs are available to all those who seek them. In the past, I’ve written several papers looking at the impact of the macroeconomy on poverty and it’s clear that high unemployment rate is closely correlated with poverty and lower incomes.
For these reasons, President Obama has called for key investments that will make America stronger – in innovation and export promotion so that American business can thrive and so job creation is strong. It’s also why much of the attention of this Administration in its first two years has focused on helping America recover from the deep recession that was in place when we took office. While reforming financial markets might seem a long way from anti-poverty policy, making sure that the financial collapse that occurred in 2008 is never repeated is important to assure jobs and long-term economic growth.
Another key policy response to poverty is assuring that all American children have access to good schools and an adequate education, so that they have the skills needed to work and earn an adequate income for their families. More jobs in the future will require higher education, and investments in education programs are crucial to ensure that the next generation is prepared with the skills they need to succeed in the workplace. The President has called for the preparation of an additional 100,000 science and math teachers, and vowed to make college more accessible and affordable by strengthening our community colleges and permanently extending the American Opportunity Tax Credit. These investments will help achieve the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
BH: Based on your personal and professional experience, how do and how can women contribute to those problem-solving steps?
More women hold senior professional positions than ever before in the workplace. Women’s lived experiences differ in various ways from men’s lives. This means that women can sometimes bring new perspectives and insights to the table as decision-makers. There is clear evidence that higher-quality decisions occur when they are made by a group that is diverse in background, ideas and experience. As women progress in the working world, we will continue to see the value of their contributions. In particular, women are often more sympathetic to challenges that both men and women can face in reconciling their family responsibilities with their work responsibilities.
A high share of those in poverty are less-skilled single mothers, raising children on their own. Their ability to escape poverty
