President Barack Obama visited Rhode Island College to talk about the economy and how important the policies to help women succeed are. This is something that Obama is really planning to push across the nation. Obama said "policies that ease financial and other burdens on women will help make the economy stronger overall." Obama being raised by a single mother is partly a reason as to why he strives to make this change happen. .
Rhode Island is one of the few states that has a paid family leave legislation. They make an effort to recognize and support working families. Obama said Rhode Island "has got the right idea" and the nation needs to broaden its laws for family leave. It's "good policy" that will benefit businesses and the economy, he said. He is using Rhode Island as a model for other states with hope that this could change many viewpoints. This speech was made days before the election and was not intended for campaign but did work out in Raimondo's favor. "The idea that my daughters wouldn't have the same opportunities as somebody's sons, well that's unacceptable" Obama said. He is strongly pushing equal pay for women and a higher minimum wage. Women get about 78 cents in a full time, full year job compared to the dollar that men make, the White House says. He also promoted his health care law. He made it clear that they were benefits aimed at women, for reasons such as mammograms without co-pays and insurance that can't be denied because of conditions like breast cancer. Obama has made it clear many times that and is very well known for saying "When women succeed, America succeeds.".
A very strong point was made by Obama about having paid family leave. There are many single mothers out there that work very hard all day every day and having a day off to take care of their children or even just spend time with them is nearly impossible. It is not a fair choice that women are having to deal with when they are just working to support themselves.