Women’s
Economic Justice
Plan
When We Center Women, Our Communities Win
Connecticut’s economy doesn’t work for everyone. Women, especially women of color, immigrants, disabled women, and those with low incomes, are more likely to face exploitation, work in underpaid caregiving roles, lack access to affordable healthcare and child care, and face housing insecurity.
Anchored in the lived experiences of women and driven by our policy, advocacy, and organizing work, the Women’s Economic Justice Plan is an evolving roadmap for advancing women’s economic security in Connecticut.
At its core, women’s economic security means having the stable income and resources needed to support oneself and one’s family. Not just to survive, but to rest, create, and thrive. For many women, it means being able to stay in the workforce, pursue education, care for family members, build wealth, and live with dignity and stability.
What becomes possible when women can meet their needs?
That is the future the Women’s Economic Justice Plan is working to build.
What the Women’s Economic Justice Plan Does
Our work responds to the realities women face every day. That means our priorities shift as new challenges emerge and new opportunities for change arise. Today, that includes fighting for policies like a Connecticut Child Tax Credit that would put money directly into families’ pockets. In recent years, it has meant securing landmark victories like Paid Family & Medical Leave and expanded Paid Sick Days.
While the specific policies may change, the mission remains constant: tackling the interconnected systems and barriers that shape women’s economic security, from wages and workplace protections to childcare, healthcare, housing, and family stability.
Through this plan, we are fighting to:
Advance economic security and equity
Through policies that increase wages, expand access to care, and ensure women have the resources they need to live with dignity.
Protect and expand women’s rights
From reproductive freedom to workplace justice, we fight for policies that recognize and respect women’s full autonomy and contributions.
Address structural barriers to opportunity
By reforming systems like healthcare, housing, and taxation that have consistently failed to meet the needs of women, particularly those pushed to the margins.
In short, the Women’s Economic Justice Plan is our vision for a future where all women in Connecticut can thrive, free from the racist and sexist systems that hold back their lives and livelihoods. It weaves together our advocacy, community organizing, and direct service work to advance policies we’ve won, fuel the fights we’re in, and build toward a future where economic security is a right, not a privilege.
The Urgency of NOW
From every angle, household budgets are under strain:
Child care costs are among the highest in the nation, often exceeding rent or mortgage payments.
Housing is increasingly unaffordable, with a growing gap between wages and rental prices.
Food prices have surged and federal benefits are being gutted, leaving families making impossible choices.
The wage gap continues to shortchange women, especially women of color, reducing lifetime earnings and limiting intergenerational opportunity.
These are not isolated challenges. They are the result of systems that were never designed to support women’s long-term security.
Now, these cracks are widening: the rollback of pandemic-era support, inflation, and regressive federal shifts are hitting the same communities over and over again. The consequences of decades of underinvestment in women’s economic security are not just showing, they’re compounding. We don’t need slow fixes. We need bold, coordinated action.
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Women’s
Economic Justice
Plan
