Effort to Reinstate Data Collection on Women Workers Stalled

December 12, 2005

For a year now, activists have been battling the Bush administration's efforts to discontinue collecting employment data on women workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which collects this data for the Department of Labor's "Women Worker Series," revealed in January of 2005 that they intended to discontinue collecting the data in August 2005. This was of great concern to all of us who care about women workers, because it is harder for us to advocate for improvements without having the necessary data.

The Department of Labor's Women Worker Series requires very little effort on the part of employers to provide information and gives the most accurate picture of women in the labor force. Data recorded include the number of women working outside the home, their wages, salaries, job descriptions and status. Without this important data it will be almost impossible to gauge how women workers are being treated in this country and formulate strategies for eliminating discrimination and improving their economic status.

For this reason, activists have been working tirelessly to maintain the data collection. NOW and our coalition partners first sent letters and emails to the Department of Labor and BLS asking them to continue collecting this important data on women in the workplace.

BLS ignored our pleas and discontinued the data collection in August 2005 as planned.

We turned to our friends in Congress to help reinstate the Women Worker Series at the BLS, and in late October an amendment sponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) requiring the BLS to continue collecting data on women workers was included in the Senate-passed version of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill.

In the House/Senate discussions to craft a final funding bill, House leaders accepted the Senate's call for reinstatement of the data collection and brought the bill to the House floor for a final vote. For all the right reasons, on Thursday, November 17 the House voted down the Labor/HHS appropriations bill because it cut funds to important anti-poverty and human needs programs. The Labor/HHS bill, along with the reinstatement of the women workers data, is now in limbo. A joint conference committee continues to argue about funding levels.

It is possible that the Labor/HHS budget will be incorporated into a larger appropriations bill, such as the defense bill or a "continuing resolution" which will fund the programs at current levels for some indeterminate time. Because it is uncertain whether the amendment on the Women Worker Series will be retained in any version of these bills, advocates and sponsors are considering introducing a stand-alone bill some time early next year that will require the continuation of the data collection. We will keep you updated on our efforts to ensure that we continue to have the information we need to advocate for women at work.