By Wendy Kimble
I
n today’s economy, families depend on both men and women to make ends meet. Corporations have stacked the deck against us, raking in profits while we struggle with increasing costs and jobs that hardly pay the bills. Women are at the core of today’s families and the modern economy, but they can’t prosper as long as our laws about work and family are stuck in the past. Our mothers, sisters, and daughters deserve full and fair opportunities to succeed, just like our brothers and sons. It’s time to update our economy to make it work for women and their families, not just for rich corporations. Our communities, our economy, and our country depend on it.
Women are driving small business growth, starting more than 1,200 net new women-owned businesses every day. But the deck is stacked against us – especially women of color – and we still face major barriers to success in business, from access to capital to affordable child care to outdated workplace standards that don’t work for our families and employees. Meanwhile, the lobby groups that claim to represent us in Tallahassee and Washington, DC are dominated by men, and their agendas don’t reflect the values and interests of women small business owners.
It’s time to update our economy and laws so they work for everyone, including women who own or want to start small businesses. This includes updating our workplace standards with policies that actually work for our families and employees – like earned sick time. We’re promoting a women small business owners’ agenda with priorities that include earned sick time, affordable health care, affordable child care, and access to credit.
It’s time we tell politicians to pick a side: side with women and support women small business owners or side with the male-dominated lobby groups that claim to represent small businesses but really carry water for big corporate interests. Women have a voice when we vote and it’s time to make that voice heard. Cast your November ballot for candidates that support women’s economic issues.
Wendy Kimble is the owner of True Harmony Gifts and a Main Street Alliance of Florida Member
