What Women in Finance Want To See from a Potential Harris Administration

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To put it mildly, a lot is happening in the American political landscape right now. With Kamala Harris’ addition to the presidential race, what key issues could a Harris administration address?

GOBankingRates spoke to three women in finance to get their views on what should be prioritized under a potential Harris presidency:

Expanding Personal Finance Education

“There are so many things that the potential Harris administration could do to support women in closing the gap they face on all financial fronts compared to men,” said Judy Esber, Founder and Money Coach at Hear Me Finance. “An easy first step would be to expand what California has just recently passed, which is to have the department of education work to push all states to require a personal finance education class for all high school students.”

Currently, only 26 states require this class, and, although education comes under state control, the public looks to the federal leadership and the Department of Education to lead the way.

Addressing College Costs

“According to the Education Data Initiative, college tuition inflation has increased annually by 12% from 2010 to 2022,”said Juliann Gumulak-Smith, Investment Academy for Women founder. “Tuition has tripled over the last 58 years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. These numbers make it harder and harder to afford college.”

Gumulak-Smith believes more funding should go to colleges and trade schools to bring down tuition costs for students and their families. “Parents are often torn between saving for their own retirement and helping to pay for college for their children,” she said.

Cancelling Student Debt

While additional funding would help students in the future, what about existing debt? The current student loan debt in the U.S. stands at an eye-watering $1.753 trillion, according to the Education Data Initiative.  

“Continuing the movement to cancel as much student loan debt as possible would make a huge impact in women’s lives,” said Esber. “Women carry 64% of all student loan debt. This debt is slowing down their ability to focus on other things like purchasing homes or investing for retirement.”

Increased Teacher Salary Funding

Gumulak-Smith would also like to see increased funding for teachers’ salaries in K-12 schools in order to improve education quality. “In the United States, teachers have low pay and long hours and often work in a hostile work environment,” she said. “No wonder we see teachers fleeing to other professions. Increase teacher pay, increase competition for those positions, and the country wins.”

Making Housing More Affordable

An issue that drastically affects the women that Esber works with is the current unaffordability of housing, and she suggests that setting regulations on developers and private equity firms could help. “Women need access to secure housing to ensure financial stability,” she said, “but the takeover of the housing market by these firms is making this less accessible.”

Implementing a National Paid Family Leave Policy

The U.S. is the only developed country without a national paid family leave policy, forcing many, especially women, to sacrifice their health, interrupt their career or delay having a family, according to Kate Hao, Founder and CEO of Happy Mango Credit. “The detrimental long-term economic impact from lower labor force participation, suppressed consumer spending and impaired women and children’s health is immeasurable,” she said.

Though President Biden included having a national paid family leave policy as part of his broader social policy agenda, it’s been met with resistance from small business owners who worry about the potential financial and administrative costs. Hao hopes a potential Harris administration can dissolve this resistance by expanding the tax credit for paid family leave introduced in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to relieve small business owners of the financial burden from paying employees on leave.

“Small businesses have been more affected than large business in the recent labor shortage,” she said. “Having a paid family leave subsidized by the government will help small businesses gain and keep talent, overcoming one of the biggest barriers to their continued growth.”

_{Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.}

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