Unmarried women and men are an undeniable political force today. Of the 126 million Americans who voted in the last general election, a record 39% were unmarried, representing a 15% increase since the 1972 election, according to Census data.
In her new book, “All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation”, author Rebecca Traister highlights ways single women have already changed the political landscape.
“The practicalities of female life independent of marriage give rise to demands for pay equity, paid family leave, a higher minimum wage, universal pre-K, lowered college costs, more affordable health care, and broadly accessible reproductive rights; many of these are issues that have, for years, been considered too risky to be central to mainstream Democratic conversation, yet they are policies today supported by both Democratic candidates for president.”
The reasons unmarried Americans might care more deeply about issues like housing, health care and childcare should be obvious — without a partner to shoulder the burden of these expenses, it can be staggeringly difficult to get by. In many parts of the country, paying for monthly childcare is the equivalent of taking on a second mortgage. Pre-Affordable Care Act, if a single parent lost her job, she would have no spouse’s health benefits to rely on. The U.S. is still one of the only developed countries that doesn’t require paid maternity and paternity leave for workers, which makes it costly for single parents to take time off after having a new child if they don't work for a company that offers this perk.
Of course, just because someone is unmarried doesn’t mean they are single (more than 7 million households are run by unmarried couples). But there’s no denying that single-parent households are on the rise. One in four households are led by single mothers (three times as many as in 1960), and single dads make up another 6%, according to the Pew Research Center.
As a country, we are moving away from the traditional household model. But looking at some of their proposed policies, today’s presidential candidates seem stuck in the past. I decided to examine the major issues that can impact single people today and determine which of the narrowed field of Republican and Democratic candidates have their best interests in mind. The issues I chose: family leave/childcare; health care; education; affordable housing; and women’s rights/equal pay. I briefly laid out each candidate’s position and (very subjectively) decided which stance benefits single voters.
In this post, we tackle the Democrats. Click here to see our Republican pick >
CHILD CARE and FAMILY LEAVE
Hillary Clinton: Clinton supports access to early child care, calling on the federal government to double its investment in Early Head Start and Early Head Start–Child Care programs, which help low-income families. She also wants to expand preschool access by funding state and community efforts to expand access to preschool by initiating new federal support for their efforts. Her proposal would ensure that every 4-year-old in America has access to high-quality preschool in the next 10 years.
On paid leave, Hillary wants to implement a federal mandate that requires employers to give up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave and ensure at least two-thirds of wage replacement for workers on leave. She’d pay for this by raising taxes on high-income earners.
Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator also supports 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, however, he would pay for his plan differently – by funding it through an insurance program, like Social Security, where workers would pay a tax about $1.61 per week. “I happen to think $1.61 for three months paid family and medical leave is a very good investment for working families of this country,” Sanders said.
Sanders backs legislation that would guarantee seven days of paid sick leave per year for American workers. (Right now there is no federal mandate for paid sick leave.) Sanders also supports paid family leave, but he goes a step further, adding paid vacation to his wishlist. He calls on employers to provide at least 10 days of paid vacation a year and allows workers to take two weeks of paid leave each year “to rest and recuperate, travel, visit loved ones, or simply spend time at home bonding with their families.”
The winner: Clinton. I gave Sanders a slight edge for highlighting the need for paid vacation, but Clinton wins for the push to expand the Early Head Start and Early Head Start-Child Care programs, which can help single parents by providing full-day child care for infants and toddlers.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Clinton: Clinton’s women’s rights platform is based on several key pillars: raising the minimum wage, increasing child care access, implementing paid family leave, as well as supporting women’s reproductive rights and emphasizing the importance of Social Security, as women outlive men and single women experience greater rates of poverty in old age.
Sanders: There’s not much differentiating Sanders’ plan from Clinton’s. He also supports equal pay, increased child care and family leave access, and greater Social Security protections.
The Winner: Tie.
HEALTH CARE
Clinton: She supports the federal insurance marketplace but wants to enhance tax credits to offset out-of-pocket and premium costs. She wants to cap premium costs so that households aren’t spending more than 8.5% of their income on insurance. She acknowledges the need to improve services for disabled Americans and suggests tax relief to help families who are caring for older relatives or family members with disabilities.
Sanders: Sanders has an ambitious plan to implement a single-payer insurance model, which would eliminate copays and deductibles. He also supports portable insurance models that would let workers keep their plans when they leave their job. He has a detailed plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs, which includes improving access to cheaper prescription drugs in Canada, slowing price increases by charging generic drug manufacturers when prices rise faster than inflation, and requiring pharmaceutical companies to publish information about drug prices publicly.
The winner: Sanders.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Clinton: Of all candidates, both Republican and Democratic, Clinton is the only candidate who has laid out a comprehensive plan to increase access to affordable housing. In a nutshell: Clinton would support initiatives to match up to $10,000 in savings for a down payment on a home for low-income earners; increase access to loans for underserved communities; tackle discrimination in the mortgage market; and beef up the supply of affordable rental housing by increasing development incentives. Her plan also calls for a bump in Low Income Housing Tax Credits in communities where the demand for these credits far exceeds the supply.
Sanders: Sanders has been a strong supporter of affordable housing initiatives like Section 8, but hasn’t published an official stance or plan to improve affordable housing.
The winner: Clinton.
EDUCATION
Clinton: Clinton’s College Compact, plan which would make attendance at four-year in-state schools and community colleges free, a $200 billion plan largely focused on giving states incentives to increase investment in higher ed and cut tuition costs. She also wants families to keep some skin the game, requiring them to make an “affordable and realistic contribution” to tuition costs. Most of the plan would be paid by capping the amount the wealthy can deduct on their taxes for charitable donations, which is now 50% of adjusted gross income.
For recent graduates, her stance on loan refinancing would be a major boon -- you can refinance your loans at today’s rates, which are much lower than they were a decade or so ago.
Sanders: Sanders is all about making college free at public institutions, a $75 billion plan paid for largely by a new tax on investment and other financial firms. He wouldn’t require a minimum family tuition contribution, as Clinton calls for. He’d also reduce today’s federal loan interest rates by roughly half, bringing them down to 2006 levels, and allow current graduates to refinance at the lower rate.
The winner: Sanders
The overall winner:
It’s a tie with 3 points each! (They each won two categories and tied in the last). And this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Clinton and Sanders have had issues distinguishing their policies from one another throughout their campaigns. I guess it’s up to voters to decide which candidate has the best chance of pushing their singles-friendly policies forward if elected.
