Giving Compass' Take:

• As we wrestle with the coronavirus and the essential fight for racial justice, an article at Equitable Growth explains why a feminist economic policy agenda just might be the answer.

• How are women--especially women of color--disproportionately impacted by the public health crisis? Why is it essential that we hear their voices? What can you do to promote a feminist economic policy agenda in your community?

• Find resources to curb the effects of the coronavirus.

The displays of solidarity among Black Lives Matter protesters and frontline healthcare workers across the United States over the past month demonstrate the underlying links between multiple crises involving public health, the economy, and racial justice. The COVID-19 pandemic shines a bright light on the role of crucial care work undertaken by some of the most marginalized workers—in particular, the overrepresentation of women, and especially women of color, among low-wage healthcare workers on the frontlines, including home health aides, nurses, and nursing assistants.

The gendered dimensions of these crises also are present in our homes. Women still do more of the unpaid work of caring for their families and communities compared to men. Black women are more likely to be breadwinners while also being responsible for caregiving.

Any comprehensive response to the COVID-19 crisis must recognize this gendered work as an integral part of an economic system that promotes human well-being for all. A call for a feminist economic agenda for the World Health Organization ran recently in medical journal The Lancet.  A leader to take this approach is Hawaii’s Department of Human Services, which has issued a Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for COVID-19. Priorities include building the state’s social infrastructure and supporting job creation in green industries.

This is a model worth emulating. Economic policy should be constructed within a broader, feminist framework of human well-being and justice. Economic policy that has been solely concerned with the achievement of output-based metrics such as financial stability and Gross Domestic Product growth have always been inadequate in addressing how patriarchy and structural racism determine economic outcomes. This is now more clear than ever.

Read the full article about a feminist economic policy agenda by Kate Bahn, Jennifer Cohen, and Yana van der Meulen Rodgers at Equitable Growth.