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South Dakota 7th-Worst Economic Regime for Women; Time for New Management!

I love South Dakota. I love ladies. So why doesn't South Dakota love ladies?

Never mind the syllogistic stretch; check out why 24/7 Wall Street says South Dakota is the seventh-worst state in the Union for women:

Median earnings for women in South Dakota were roughly 75% the earnings of their male counterparts in 2013, one of the lower rates in the country. The lower earnings may be due to the relatively small percentage of women in management occupations. As of 2013, slightly more than 31% of workers in managerial roles were women, well below the national rate of 39.2%. Working women in South Dakota cannot take paid time off to care for sick family members or tend to their own health or pregnancy. Moreover, South Dakota has not begun to implement the expansion of Medicaid benefits allowed under the Affordable Care Act. With women accounting for nearly 55% of all state residents living below the poverty line in 2012, expanding Medicaid benefits would likely improve the living conditions for women [Thomas C. Frohlich, Alexander Kent, and Alexander E.M. Hess, "The 10 Worst States for Women," 24/Wall Street, 2014.10.16].

I love South Dakota. I want to say good things about South Dakota. But candidates like Mike Rounds and Dennis Daugaard are claiming they deserve your vote because they've done good things for South Dakota, when in fact they have only left in place a political and economic system that denies a huge majority of moms (and dads!) the opportunity to leave one parent at home to raise their kids, then hurls those women into an oppressive business regime that excludes them from lucrative positions of power.

Women, you appear to have your doubts about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Susan Wismer. You should harbor even greater doubts about the economic status quo in which the Republicans vest their interests. Check your pocketbooks, and vote accordingly.

15 Comments

  1. crossgrain 2014.10.22

    Woman cook. Man hunt. Man want new truck for hunting. Woman get job. Woman help pay for truck. Woman cook truckload. Man wash truck. Man happy. Woman tired.

    Our South Dakota "Traditional Values" are fighting against depressed wages for all, forcing more women to have to get a job to support a family. Increasing the minimum wage is a good place to start. Many working moms were told growing up that they didn't need an education since they'd just marry a man to support them. Now they're stuck in low-end entry-level jobs that barely cover the cost of daycare.

    The thing that strikes me as odd is how the Republican Party can so glibbly (is that a word?) repress women. I mean I get how the Old Boy Network wants to retain power, but from a purely economic, capitalistic, money-grubbing standpoint, it's stupid to ignore half the population when considering job applicants and pay raises. Reward the best regardless of sex - it's the capitalist thing to do!

    One thing struck me as odd from the article though - can anyone elaborate on this:

    "Working women in South Dakota cannot take paid time off to care for sick family members or tend to their own health or pregnancy."

    ??

    I happen to own a business and I always give paid time off for any reason - sickness (yours or a family member), errands, vacation, etc. Obviously I wouldn't pay if the employee is out of PTO, though. The Family Medical Leave Act requires employees of either sex can take 12 working weeks off for sickness, pregnancy, etc. It doesn't require pay, but that can be part of it if the employer or employee so desire. What's different about South Dakota?

  2. jerry 2014.10.22

    From Fox news, I kid you not. "The Five" co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle said Tuesday that young women should excuse themselves from voting in the upcoming midterm elections because they don't share the same "life experience" as older women and should just go back to playing around on Tinder and Match.com."

    Women like this are called a Judas Goat for their misleadings. Women have many difficult trails that is for sure, but when they get shafted by the women in positions of influence, that is when they should start to unite and vote the barstards out of office. Any woman who thinks the republican party is for them, is delusional and tragically uninformed by looking at their meager paychecks and their hungry children while thinking this is the best it gets.

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.10.22

    A woman actually said that, Jerry? Ugh! I don't know many young women who would take that guff.

    Cross, I'll need to read more, but the folks making the survey may have looked at state laws or absence thereof. Anyone catch the methodology yet?

  4. jerry 2014.10.22

    Fox is a calculated, test tube of insanity that provides the dog whistles for certain folks. You may not know of many young women who would take that guff, but Fox does with test after test. There are many many more women in this state and in the country than men. And yet they vote against their own best interests time and time again. By saying this kind of rubbish publicly only means they are sure of their polling of what will work and what will not. What makes a difference is when women think and feel they are actually important and forget about the stereotypes that some have put on them. Women need to stand up for women and stop being led into catty ambushes that harm all.
    By the way, I am a husband to a great woman who will not put up with any guff and a father to great daughter that will not either. We stand as equals here.

  5. crossgrain 2014.10.22

    "Cross, I'll need to read more, but the folks making the survey may have looked at state laws or absence thereof. Anyone catch the methodology yet?"

    I did catch that on the first page of the article the following:"Data on the expansion of Medicaid, as policies towards maternity leave, sick days, and time off from work came from the National Partnership for Women and Families. A quick Google later, and I'm at https://secure2.convio.net/npwf/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=961 - a page advocating for paid family leave. One more Google brings us to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paid_family_leave wherein the page describes California, Washington, and New Jersey as the only states with any mandated PAID Family Leave (though there is difficulty with implementation in Washington I believe). So most states fail in this respect.

    Makes sense I guess. Figuring out how to fund the Paid Family Leave Insurance seems to be the main problem with getting this going. Ultimately I would hope there could be some cost-sharing between employee and employer - say employer matched contributions? It'd keep everyone honest on the front side - no idea how you'd enforce the fraud aspect though. I suppose that would be up to the insurance provider using medical records.

  6. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.10.22

    [Sorry—there's some irrelevance that keeps creeping into this thread. I will continue to delete until it stops.]

  7. Roger Elgersma 2014.10.22

    So much for the theory that getting experience will qualify more individuals for management. Highest percent women working and low percent women getting into management in South Dakota. Work ethic still is supposed to work for men. Why does it not work for women. In the old days a man got more pay since he had a family to feed. Now women get less pay and less promotions when they have a family to feed. That is conservative good old boys club, except they are not good and old enough that they should know better.

  8. Steve Sibson 2014.10.22

    The idea that Wismer is going to win by promoting the falsehood that South Dakota hates women will not work.

  9. Roger Cornelius 2014.10.22

    South Dakota doesn't hate women, South Dakota Republicans hate women

  10. Deb Geelsdottir 2014.10.24

    Juanita Jean has covered the stupidity from Faux Noise here:

    http://www.juanitajean.com/2014/10/23/helloooooo-girlfriends/

    As long as Republicans continue their anti-woman policies, of course women won't vote for them in any numbers. Women won't vote Republicans for the same reason brown and black people won't. Why would any of those people vote for a political party owned lock, stock and barrel by rich white guys; a political party that aims to own and control any non-rich white guys.

    Unlike Rounds' EB5 scandal, this story is not complicated.

  11. lesliengland 2014.10.25

    and the story that may not be proven is the complicated hidden cover-up likely involving daugaard in the prior administration and extending to today. deletion of emails, document shredding, state-wide acquiescence, committee partisanship obstruction, and manipulation of the attorney general's and entire law enforcement function in south dakota; again frightening.

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