When when my younger daughter needed surgery at the same time that my elderly father needed immediate medical attention, having to take time off unpaid was an enormous financial burden for me. Establishing paid family leave is a necessary step to close the gender wage and stop punishing women financially for taking care of our families.
Hot off the press! Take a look at 9to5 Colorado’s new report on community perspectives of the housing crisis in the Denver Metro Area and a comprehensive plan to shift the tide.
Read about 9to5 Colorado’s coalition with Denver groups protesting the city’s soaring cost of living.
Hear about 9to5 Colorado’s successful protest of the Regional Transportation District’s A Line cost and its burden on working women.
As we draw another busy legislative session to a close, we’d like to give you a snapshot of our work this year. 2016 has held both legislative wins for working women & families, as well as shaped a path for our future work.
My name is Krysten Stevenson, and I’m a member of 9to5 Colorado, a grassroots organization that strengthens women’s abilities to win justice for working women. I’m a single mom with two young children. I also take care of my mother, who is older and has suffered from a stroke which requires me to be her caregiver. The Earned Income Tax Credit has consistently provided my family a safety net when we’ve needed it the most.
My name is Arianna Caldwell, and I just turned 25 on Saturday. I have two kids – one four-year-old and one baby who just turned one, and I’m a single mom. The EITC has meant a lot to me in the past. In 2013, I had a job and my car recently broke down. It was going to be $2000 to fix my car, and I didn’t have that money. I was riding the bus. If I wasn’t able to pay to get my car fixed, I probably would have lost my job because my child got dropped off at preschool at 7:30 and my job started at 8:30. Using the bus, I wasn’t able to get to work on time. That year, my tax return came just in time, and I was able to pay for the necessary repairs to fix my car and keep my job.
Fair Chance Denver is a campaign to pass an ordinance in Denver, CO to remove ‘the box’ on job and housing applications asking about felony backgrounds.
My name is Nicole Rodriguez, and I am a member 9to5 Colorado, a grassroots organization that strengthens women’s abilities to win justice for working women. I am a widow with a 12-year-old son, and my family supports HB-1002, Parental Involvement for Academic Activities, which reenacts the 2009 “Parental Involvement in K-12 Education Act.” This bill would allow parents to take a limited amount of job-protected time off from work to attend their children’s academic activities.
Our culture of female caregiving means that having no paid family leave hits women’s paychecks harder than men. When my younger daughter needed surgery at the same time that my elderly father needed immediate medical attention, times were tough.
