Exclusive: Pandemic Could Cost Typical American Woman Nearly $600,000 in Lifetime Income
By Emily Peck
Photo Illustration by Newsweek; Source Images Getty
New signs of the nation s expanding recovery from the pandemic crop up every day, but for millions of women in the U.S. the economic punch of COVID may never be over. Long after the face masks have been tucked away and the kids are back in school full-time, after offices reopen, jobs are regained and life returns to some semblance of normalcy, the financial fallout of the past 15 months will continue to trail these women likely, for the rest of their working lives and throughout retirement.
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A new bill aims to restructure the tax code so that marital status isn’t a factor Illustration for Single Parent Penalty story. (iStock; Washington Post Illustration) Andrea González-Ramírez
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The price tag of raising a child in the United States is well over $200,000 these days, in part because of skyrocketing child-care costs. These costs vary widely state to state, according to the Economic Policy Institute; center-based care for 4-year-olds ranges from $4,493 a year in Arkansas to nearly $18,980 a year in D.C. But across the board, child care is putting significant financial strain on parents.
The high costs have made the child tax credit a crucial benefit for millions of families across America. Since it was first established in 1997, the benefit has undergone many changes, but President Biden’s American Rescue Plan most recently increased the credit for the tax year 2021. As a result, parents can now receive $3,600 per child under the age of 6 and $3,000 pe
By Bill Knight
Some businesses say they’re struggling to fill vacancies as the pandemic starts to ease; the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) says 42 percent of small businesses have unfilled openings; and the National Restaurant Association suggests people would prefer staying home and subsisting off unemployment insurance, which through Sept. 6 includes a $300 federal supplement to state benefits.
However, HALF of restaurant workers were denied benefits because their pay was too low to qualify, says the One Fair Wage (OFW) coalition.
The problem is more complicated that the alleged greed of the jobless, and the solution is simple.
Women have been harder hit, according to the Brookings Institution, which reports 40 percent had to drop jobs when schools and child-care services closed.
Print A woman wears a face mask due to the ongoing coronavirus disease in Denver, Colorado on August 24, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
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During their first 100 days in office, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have prioritized tackling the twin health and economic crises at home, even as COVID-19 continues to pose serious challenges globally. Having come to office amidst a global pandemic and economic shutdown the Biden team moved quickly to launch the President s Build Back Better agenda. After signing the American Rescue Plan into law to provide immediate aid to those hardest hit by the pandemic economy, Biden has announced two other legislative proposals: the American Jobs Plan and the American Family Plan. Welcome news for an economy deeply challenged by the pandemic over the past year.