Hello and welcome to the STOCKED: Pantry with Purpose podcast. Today I’ll be reading Progress for Women Is Not Inevitable from Ellevest CEO, Sallie Krawcheck. This is a continuation of her money is power theme. Full disclosure: Ellevest is an affiliate “partner” of STOCKED.
Here goes:
And, just like that, it’s March. Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, Equal Pay Day.
In other words, March is sort of our month over here at Ellevest. (Although on that last thing, Equal Pay Day? Snort. After the financial devastation that the pandemic has caused for women, there’s seriously no way that women only have to work until March 24 to earn what men earned in 2020. Just no way.)
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve written about the money lies we’re told as women, as well as the money truths.
As we head into March, it strikes me that there may be another money lie that we should put to rest: that the financial and economic progress of women is inevitable.
It feels like it should be, doesn’t it? With our first woman vice president. With a woman Speaker of the House. With women as the majority of college and advanced degree graduates. With more women than ever leading Fortune 500 companies. With the number of new women-owned businesses running at more than double that of all businesses over the five years leading up to the pandemic.
But that was before the pandemic, and the past year has demonstrated that progress is 100% not inevitable.
In fact, with the threat of decades of headway reversed in what feels like the blink of an eye, it’s become unignorable that progress has been built on a rickety underpinning. Our progress, up until now, has been driven by the sheer will and talent of women, overcoming this country’s sub-par social safety nets.
The way forward is to make some noise and make some changes.
It can be engaging with the new administration by raising our voices in support of the Marshall Plan for Moms or a child care stipend to bring women back into the workforce. (Passing the Equal Rights Amendment and the Equality Act can’t hurt, either.)
It can also be using the power of our money. To invest — whether via an online platform or as a private wealth investor — in companies that are best at advancing women. To buy from women-led businesses. To donate to non-profits that center on women and girls.
And we just maaaaaayyyyyy have a few things in the works for March in this vein. Ground-breaking things. Win-wins. Firsts.
We’re (clearly) bursting to tell you everything about it, but need to just put a few finishing touches on it before rolling it out. Hint: If you’re not a member yet, you can start there — do it now and we’ll drop $5 into your Ellevest Spend account.*
Alright, that’s all she wrote. Thanks for listening and, as always, reach out to me on Substack, especially if you are needing help reaching your monthly savings/investment goals.
Progress for Women Is Not Inevitable