Today is Women’s Equality Day, a day that recognizes the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave some (but not all) women the right to vote. While voting rights for all women would take many more decades, this amendment passage was a significant step in the fight for equal rights for all women.

Yet, as we all know, inequality for women continues, especially in the recent months with attacks on reproductive rights and voting access, along with the lack of support for universal childcare, paid family leave and ending gun violence in our communities. YWCA National Capital Area is on a mission to make sure we empower all women, and as part of this work, we want to share with you some new insights on women’s concerns this election year. 

Today, YWCA USA has released its fifth iteration of the YWomenVote survey, a national survey that measures women’s top concerns and the types of policies they want elected officials to prioritize to address them.  YWCA USA surveyed more than 3,300 women heading into Midterms 2022. What they found is that the concerns of women, particularly women of color, are deeply impacted by the continued inequality in our country. 

Here are some highlights from this survey:

• Women are united in their concerns surrounding gender-based violence, with 76% supporting policy solutions to end gender-based violence and 75% supporting policy solutions to support local domestic violence services.
• 91% of women in America are concerned about gun violence & mass shootings, with 59% of women surveyed believing that preventing gun violence & mass shootings is one of the most important things Congress can do.
• 86% of women surveyed agree that it’s important for Congress to dismantle white nationalism and domestic terrorism.
• Access to reproductive health care and abortion is a major concern for many women, with nearly three-quarters of women surveyed saying protecting birth control is one of their top priorities for Congress. Also, compared to all women, GenZ women of color are twice as likely to be really worried about contraception access and 70% of GenZ women of color are highly concerned about access to reproductive health services — including abortion. 
• 70% of women surveyed agree that we need policy solutions to provide affordable, high-quality child care, & 72% agree that we need living wages for childcare professionals.
• Paid family leave is a top priority for most women, but particularly women of color. For example, a whopping 81% of AAPI women said passing a federal paid leave law is one of their top 10 priorities for Congress. In addition, an overwhelming majority (83%) of Indigenous women and more than three-quarters of Latina women surveyed said passing a federal paid leave law is one of their top ten priorities for Congress. 
• A majority (83%!) of Black women — across age, political party, and income — believe one of the most critical things legislators *must* do is put an end to voter suppression laws.

Full survey results are available on ywomenvote.org.

 With all these concerns in mind, we are calling you to action today, 

• Join us and other advocacy organizations for a #YWomenVote #TowardEquality tweet storm TODAY from 2 – 3 p.m .ET. This is a great opportunity to lift our collective voices to call for the policies we need to build the equitable nation we are striving for. Join us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ywca_nca. 
• Share the stats and figures found on ywomenvote.org. Call your legislators to remind them of these priorities.
• Get registered to vote or double check your voter registration. Visit https://vote.civicnation.org/register/ywca/ to get started.