Gender Wealth Framework
Stability and Opportunity in Action
A closer look at one of the five dimensions of the WOMEN’S WAY Gender Wealth Framework.
The Gender Wealth Framework is a tool that can be used by practitioners, funders, and policymakers to design, evaluate, and invest in strategies that will close the gender wealth gap. It focuses on the lived experiences of women and other marginalized genders to develop solutions that address the root causes of wealth inequality. Rather than defining wealth solely by financial assets, this framework considers well-being, dignity, and community care as essential components of true wealth.
As you’ll see, the Framework is built around 5 key dimensions:
- Health and Healing
- Stability and Opportunity
- Freedom, Joy, and Belonging
- Family and Community Care
- Resource Navigation and Support
This blog takes a closer look at the Stability and Opportunity dimension and highlights three organizations leading the way with innovative solutions.
(For more details on the full Gender Wealth Framework, read the full report here.)
The Stability and Opportunity Dimension
How do we achieve a future with Stability and Opportunity for all? During the development of the Gender Wealth Framework, community members shared their vision for this future. Here are the key factors they identified.
Stability and Opportunity means:
- Access to quality jobs with a family-thriving wage (e.g., in Philadelphia, this is $39 per hour for a working mother with two children and a non-working partner) and benefits such as paid leave, retirement support, and parental leave.
- The ability to do the work they love without being undervalued in the market and with opportunities to advance in any field, free from structural biases.
- A strong social safety net that provides access to basic needs (such as food, shelter, healthcare, etc.) by virtue of their humanity.
- Freedom from extractive debt policies and practices and access to affordable assets that build wealth.
What does this look like in practice?
On January 29th, 2025 at our Closing the Gender Wealth Gap Forum, we brought together 4 leaders to discuss solutions for building economic stability and opportunity. The conversation featured:
Moderator: Nathifa Ford, NYC Her Future
Panelists:
- Tara Murtha, Women’s Law Project
- Elizabeth Farwell Ozer, First Up
- Dr. Richelle Brooks, The Debt Collective
Through their work, these leaders are creating change by challenging systemic barriers, advocating for better policies, and building solutions that can move us to a more equitable future. Let’s explore how these advocates are each driving progress in this space!
THE DEBT COLLECTIVE; Dr. Richelle Brooks
Stability and Opportunity means freedom from extractive debt policies and access to affordable wealth-building assets.
Debt has become a widespread crisis, from student loans to medical debt. This can lead to widespread financial instability, impacting not just individuals but also the overall economy. For women and other marginalized genders, a large portion of this debt rests on their shoulders due to systemic inequities.
Take student debt as an example: women hold nearly two-thirds of the country’s $1.54 trillion in student debt, and LGBTQ+ adults are more likely to have federal student loans than non-LGBTQ+ adults.
The reality is that people aren’t in debt because they are living extravagantly: people are going into debt simply because they are denied the resources to live comfortably without going into debt. This debt burden makes it harder for individuals to achieve stability and opportunity.
As Dr. Richelle Brooks, an organizer with the Debt Collective explains,
“We go into debt not because we’re living beyond our means, but because we’re denied the means to live.”
The Debt Collective, a debtors’ union fighting to cancel debts and defend millions of households, is tackling this issue. Their work includes canceling and renegotiating debts, advocating for publicly funded goods (education, healthcare, housing), and pushing for anti-racist economic policies.
Dr. Brooks highlights the connection between debt and opportunity:
“When I think of opportunity from a debt perspective, it means freedom from financial constraints that disproportionately burden all gender-marginalized people. It means access to reparative public goods like education, healthcare, housing, and childcare without the lifelong economic punishment that comes with that.”
FIRST UP; Elizabeth Farwell Ozer
Stability and Opportunity means doing the work you love without being undervalued and with opportunities to advance in any field, free from structural biases.
The childcare workforce is one of the most underpaid sectors in the economy - despite being essential to families and the economy. Early childhood educators, who are 97% women and more racially diverse than the general workforce, often struggle to earn a living wage.
Before the pandemic, childcare workers were among the lowest-paid employees, and today, many are even worse off. Elizabeth Farwell Ozer, Senior Manager of Special Projects at First Up, explains:
“Childcare workers were making in the bottom 5% of wages before the pandemic, and now they’re below that. They’re facing an unsustainable expectation where the childcare workforce is reimbursed far below the cost of the care that they provide. In addition, the home-based providers are usually working 50 to 60-hour weeks. There are opportunities that exist for them to go out and pursue more degrees or improve their program quality, but these opportunities [are inaccessible] because of the nature of their work.”
First Up empowers early childhood professionals through training, coaching, and advocacy to improve outcomes for young children. Their work highlights how childcare stability impacts the entire economy: if childcare providers are struggling, working parents lose stability and opportunity, too.
“Educators are making less than workers in retail. They’re making less than housekeeping, home health aides, and landscapers — all who require a lot less training to get their positions. This creates a lack of opportunity and incentive. And then, for the women who rely on childcare, when those childcare programs close [due to staffing], the opportunity to advance their careers, to have a stable home is also eroded.”
Because of these factors, Ozer is passionate about advocating for child well-being in all forms:
“For women to thrive in their careers and maintain stable financial situations, we need a strong childcare system that is accessible, affordable, and high-quality.”
WOMEN’S LAW PROJECT; Tara Murtha
Stability and Opportunity is access to a social safety net that provides basic needs (such as food, shelter, healthcare, etc.) by virtue of our humanity.
Legal advocacy plays a crucial role in fighting for economic stability and opportunity. The Women’s Law Project (WLP) works to eliminate gender bias and discrimination, ensuring that all people - regardless of gender identity, race, or income - have equal access to justice and economic security.
Tara Murtha, Director of Impact & Engagement at WLP, explains why legal advocacy is essential:
“We believe opportunity is autonomy: the opportunity to act as your own agent, to have reproductive autonomy, to be able to have the autonomy to navigate your life and society without undue political interference and barriers from the state.”
With advocacy that includes advancing reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ equality, and gender justice, the Women’s Law Project is at the forefront of protecting and strengthening policies that support stability and opportunity for women and other marginalized genders. One key policy they are currently working to support is Pennsylvania’s Family Care Act, which would establish statewide paid family and medical leave:
“We’re advocating for a lot of policies that increase and expand equitable access to health care and workplace justice issues. If there was one policy that people were looking to focus on in that realm, I would say to look into the Family Care Act. Pennsylvania has an opportunity to have a statewide paid family medical leave right now. It has some robust support, but the lawmakers need to hear from everybody to get that over the finish line.”
These leaders and organizations are advancing innovative strategies to create greater stability and opportunity. Their work shows that by addressing systemic inequities, investing in collective solutions, and advocating for policies that support women and other marginalized genders, we can move closer to economic liberation for all.
Want to learn about the Gender Wealth Framework and hear more from these three leaders? Watch the full panel discussion below.
