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By Kristen Strezo
Councilor At-Large

I wrote and introduced to the City Council last week a resolution calling for a State of Emergency to be declared in Somerville relating to the economic status of women, and how the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown has disproportionately impacted them and their workforce growth. Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballantyne co-sponsored the resolution with me.

The resolution calls on the Mayor of Somerville to declare a State of Emergency facing the status of Somerville women. This is a direct response to the fact that since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, women have lost decades worth of progress in less than a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many Somerville women are coping with the effects of being directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, from lack of childcare or inadequate childcare and job loss to threats of eviction. The U.S. Census Bureau also found that women have been cutting back hours or stepping back from their jobs entirely at three times the rate of their male peers.

We have to do something and come up with a plan. If we as a Somerville community do not respond to the glaring facts in front of us, we are set to travel down a disastrous path that cannot lead to an equitable society.

I will do everything I can to prevent that. I cannot stand by and watch and do nothing. We must take active steps to do everything we can to help support our neighbors and our more vulnerable half of Somerville’s population.

The resolution also states that when economic pandemic recovery begins, women must return to hospitable and responsive workplace environments. They deserve workplaces that consider family needs such as affordable and accessible childcare.

The full resolution reads as follows:

A Resolution Calling for a Better Future for Somerville’s Female Workforce in 2021 and Beyond

WHEREAS, The 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in the United States has disproportionately disenfranchised women in the workplace, prompting a loss of over three decades worth of employment progress in less than a year, (as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) and directly affects the lives and economic progress of Somerville women; and

WHEREAS, It is recognized that all parents, families and guardians have been experiencing hardship and are faced with constant difficult decisions regarding childcare, income and support while Somerville schools have shifted to fully remote online virtual learning since March of 2020, research consistently points to the fact that women, and those who identify as women, have disproportionately borne the brunt of the COVID pandemic shutdown; and

WHEREAS, Women predominantly occupy sectors of employment that focus on care such as teachers, childcare, elder care, home health aides and low-paid health care professions that have been both underpaid and exist with little chance for promotion for their societal importance, as recognized by the American Enterprise Institute-Brookings Paid Family Leave Project in 2020; and

WHEREAS, Women-dominated industries hit hardest by the COVID shutdown, such as retail, childcare, hotel, flight attendants and restaurant industries with Latina and Black women are reporting the biggest job losses since March of 2020, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unveiled; and

WHEREAS, Women-boosted workplace prime-age participation was the singular driver of U.S. economic expansion from 2015 up to the 2020 pandemic shutdown, as reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; and

WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic shutdown forced schools to switch to remote online learning only, the U.S. Census Bureau found that women have reported cutting back hours or stepping back from their jobs entirely at a rate three times more frequently than their male counterparts; and

WHEREAS, In 2020 during the shutdown of schools, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that women ages 25-44 cited childcare demands as their reason for not being able to work, almost three times as often as men; and

WHEREAS, Women in the U.S. accounted for 100% of the job loss claims in the United States in December 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with Black, Asian and Latina women accounting for all the jobs lost that month; and

WHEREAS, The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in January of 2021 that 8.4% of Black women and 9.1% of Latina women have experienced job loss rates significantly higher than their White female peers at 5.7%, with acknowledgement that data is not available for women who do not qualify for unemployment benefits; and

WHEREAS, According to the May 2020 Somerville Community Data Profile:

• 49.7% of Somerville’s population are women,
• 17.7% of Somerville families have a female lead householder with no husband present,
• 28.2% of Somerville female householders with no husband present are living below the poverty line, and
• unpartnered mothers bore the biggest drop in workshare than any other group of parents in 2020 and 2021; and

WHEREAS, When the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery in the United States begins, it is unacceptable that women of all colors, creeds and immigration status in the United States and in Somerville should be subjected to return to the unpaid, underpaid, unsupported labor market with inadequate workforce support present such as before and during the COVID shutdown; and

WHEREAS, The failure to respond to this employment crisis facing women will undo decades of female progress; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, That the Somerville City Council calls on the Mayor to declare a State of Emergency facing Somerville women in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown job loss and the economic progress of the women of Somerville; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That this Council asserts that Somerville must do its part to ensure that the former working considerations and the systemic discounting of women’s contributions to society be eliminated and rebuilt entirely, and supported in every possible way, including making available all possible municipal support to elevate the status of all Somerville women to exist in equity with their male and non-binary counterparts; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That this Council calls on local leadership to proactively work for realistic policy solutions that validate the needs of women, that support a local economic recovery plan for women, and make every possible effort to support Somerville women back into the workplace including:

• Targeting more small business support towards women and women-owned businesses,
• Creating additional mentorship and job development opportunities for Somerville women from young adult to senior years,
• Conducting an immediate study of Somerville women to determine any other assistance necessary to support women in a COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery plan,
• Specifically addressing institutional racism that affects women of color,
• Accelerating hospitable working environments for female employees, free from any discrimination and with active supports for women, which may also include monitoring compliance of pregnancy and ADA requirements, and supporting flexible and realistic working schedules for parents, guardians and caregivers, and
• Expanding and creating accessible childcare options that address the actual need of Somerville parents—including expanding and amply funding universal pre-K affordable childcare options, expanding out-of-school time options within Somerville schools and immediately pursuing state and federal funding to achieve these goals; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That this Council urges the Mayor and the administration to take immediate steps supporting these efforts through staffing the Economic Development Department with a new position within the department to address this dire career need affecting Somerville women.

The resolution was approved at the latest meeting of the Somerville City Council on February 25.