Coalition Backs Report Supporting Women, Children, And Our Economy

WASHINGTON -- When GDP (Gross Domestic Product) keeps rising while joblessness is dangerously high and childcare and education budgets are slashed, a coalition of 30 million citizens says it's time for new measurements that give policy-makers and the public an accurate picture of the true economic health of our nation.

Led by the Center for Partnership Studies (CPS), the coalition urges the Obama Administration and Congress to adopt the recommendations of the just-released Urban Institute report The State of Society: Measuring Economic Success and Human Well-Being. The report recommends attention to health, education, human rights, environmental sustainability, workplace fairness, poverty levels -- and especially to the majority of the population: women and children.

Among coalition members are NOW, MomsRising, National Education Association, Green America, United Methodist Church, National Associations of Mothers' Centers, True Child, Women's Funding Network, NoVo Foundation, National Council of Women's Organizations, Workforce, Inc., and leaders such as CEO Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, Peter Senge ofMIT, and former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun.

Since Congress mandated a Key National Indicator System in the health care reform bill, the coalition urges that marginalized segments of the population, especially women and minorities, help determine what measurements are developed and used.

Studies cited in The State of Society show a critical link between the status of women and not only children's welfare but also a society's general quality of life and economic competitiveness. "What's not counted is not valued," says CPS founder and president Riane Eisler. "That's why we commissioned the Urban Institute report."

The noted author of The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics is at the forefront of the Caring Economics Campaign to give visibility and value to caring for and educating children essential for both economic competitiveness and quality of life. "We need much greater investment in our nation's real wealth: our children," Eisler says. "Instead of eliminating the jobs of 300,000 teachers, we need to look at the long-term costs of not investing in caring for our children and our environment, especially since the U.S. lags far behind other nations that have made this long-term investment."

CPS invites additional supporters for the letter to Congress and President Obama to sign on by June 15.

SOURCE Center for Partnership Studies