3 Stories You Should Read 10/02/2020: POTUS COVID +, Women Leaving the Workforce, Stimulus Bill Fails
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In the category of: Karma
Trump, first lady test positive for Covid-19
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, he announced on Twitter early Friday.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” he tweeted.
Hope Hicks, one of the president’s closest senior advisers, tested positive for the virus on Thursday, making her the highest-profile member of the administration to contract the virus who is in frequent contact with Trump and other top officials.
Trump, 74, told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday after Hicks’ positive test that he and the first lady, 50, were tested after Hicks tested positive and later tweeted they were starting the “quarantine process.”
In the category of: Gender equality at risk
Pandemic threatens years of progress as women plan to leave workforce
More than a quarter of women in a survey of over 40,000 say they are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce entirely, as the coronavirus pandemic has intensified challenges many already faced at work, a study by McKinsey & Company and Lean In shows.
Why it matters: It’s an “emergency for corporate America,“ the report, which covers the U.S. and Canada, said. The pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women threatens to erode years of progress in representation in the workforce, while widening the gender pay gap.
The big picture: This is the first time in the six years of analyzing the issue that McKinsey has seen signs of women exiting the workforce at higher rates than men, the firm wrote.
- “If these women feel forced to leave the workforce, we’ll end up with far fewer women in leadership — and far fewer women on track to be future leaders. All the progress we’ve seen over the past six years would be erased,” the report states.
- It’s especially of concern, McKinsey notes, because the firm’s research indicates that companies in which women are well-represented in leadership are 50% more likely to outperform their peers.
In the category of: We need help!
House Democrats Pass $2.2 Trillion Stimulus Republicans Reject
The House passed a $2.2 trillion Democrat-only fiscal stimulus package after the most concerted talks between the top negotiators since early August failed to yield a bipartisan agreement.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier insisted the vote — which at 214-207 saw no Republican support — wouldn’t slam the door on negotiations with the White House on a bill President Donald Trump could sign into law. After sitting down with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin Wednesday, she spoke with him several times by phone again Thursday.
