House Republicans have made it clear that they aren’t finished with their war on women. In fact, they’ve just taken their crusade to a new level: attacking women’s economic security.
The House-passed Republican budget targets poor women and their families at every juncture of their life cycle, from crib to rocking chair. It guts programs that help low-income children get the nutrition and educational opportunities they need to develop and thrive. It makes devastating cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps), or SNAP, which primarily helps women, children, the disabled, and the elderly put food on the table, while also boosting our economy. The House budget’s cuts to Medicaid would deal a tough blow to low-income and middle-class women and families supporting elderly loved ones in nursing homes and those who rely on Medicaid for often life-saving preventive health services.
Instead of “empower[ing] individuals with greater control over their futures” as it claims, this budget does just the opposite. By choking off opportunity for women and children of all ages, the budget leaves poor women to fend for themselves and puts the American Dream further out of reach. What’s more, these cuts are being made in order to finance more tax breaks for those who need them the least.
The table below illustrates the House Republicans’ war on women’s economic security at all stages of life:
*The $3.3 trillion figure also includes $463 billion in cuts to low-income mandatory programs other than SNAP and Medicaid.
Katie Wright is a Research Associate for the Half in Ten Campaign at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.