skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, May 12, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Dow soars 1,000 points after Trump team and China dramatically lower tariffs; Alabama lawmakers send grocery tax cut bill to governor; Probation, supervision after incarceration comes with a catch in NC; How immigrants can protect themselves and their data at the border.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Pentagon begins removing transgender troops as legal battles continue. Congress works to fix a SNAP job-training penalty. Advocates raise concerns over immigrant data searches, and U.S. officials report progress in trade talks with China.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Volunteers with AmeriCorps are reeling from near elimination of the 30-year-old program, Head Start has dodged demise but funding cuts are likely, moms are the most vulnerable when extreme weather hits, and in California, bullfrogs await their 15-minutes of fame.

Report Cites Economic Power of Wyoming Women

play audio
Play

Monday, July 12, 2021   

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Women left the workforce during the pandemic at higher rates than men, and a new report suggests full economic recovery won't be possible if employers do not find ways to bring them back.

Rebekah Smith, director of the Wyoming Women's Foundation, which produced the report, said women workers boost local economies because they invest 90% of what they earn on local goods and services.

The report projected Wyoming would lose at least $45 million in Gross Domestic Product if every Wyoming woman stayed home from work for just one day.

"And so when you look at those two factors together, you see that women not only are contributing a huge amount to the GDP in Wyoming, they are also investing the majority of the money that they earn back into their communities," Smith explained.

Smith contended closing the gender wage gap would help. In 2019, the median average wage for men in Wyoming was $50,000. Women took home just over $37,000. While some argued a majority of women take jobs that tend to pay less, for example, 90% of Wyoming workers in health-care support jobs are women, Smith countered the report suggests ways to make it feasible for women to access higher-paying jobs and leadership positions.

Paid sick and family leave programs can also help more women return to the workforce, because women are more likely to stay home with sick children or other family members.

Smith pointed out access to high-quality and affordable child care, and more flexibility in work hours, would also allow women to work and maintain family commitments.

"With the recent pandemic, that's been something that employers have been more open to, and seen that works can go on in a flexible way," Smith observed. "That's one thing that can be done to encourage women to take on higher positions."

Smith added the report offers opportunities for policymakers to maximize the ability for women to earn self-sufficient wages, enough to meet their basic needs without public or private assistance.

According to the Wyoming Women's Foundation's most recent self-sufficiency standard for Wyoming, a single adult with one preschooler would need to make at least $16.22 per hour in Uinta County, and $29.70 per hour in Teton County.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Many municipalities are now testing drinking water for PFAS but contamination is often widespread and difficult to remove. (show999/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A new study from Michigan State University researchers revealed lasting PFAS effects in a Michigan community's drinking water near an old paper mill l…


Environment

play sound

Supporters of the Campaign for Affordable Power are pressing state lawmakers to pass a series of reform bills aimed at big investor-owned utilities li…

Environment

play sound

An environmental group is voicing concern about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to tackle PFAS pollution. The EPA recently …


The Mayo Clinic reported most people born or living in the U.S. before 1957 are immune to measles because they've had the infection and can only get it once. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

At least two people have tested positive for measles in Illinois and public health officials are working to combat misinformation surrounding vaccines…

Social Issues

play sound

Keeping more renters in their homes is one goal of a new Utah initiative. The Utah Housing Coalition has formed a Landlord and Community Partners …

Two-thirds of Virginians who receive SNAP benefits have a child in the house, and 36% are in working families. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives could make it easier for people to get job training while they're receiving federal food assistance…

Social Issues

play sound

Fear, shame, and helplessness are feelings Minnesota fraud victims describe after losing their life savings to a scam. They're hopeful about a path …

Social Issues

play sound

The Pentagon will begin removing transgender troops from the military after the Supreme Court ruled last week that a ban could be enforced as lawsuits…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021