Contents

Julie’s Story

Preface

By Neera Tanden

PART I: HOW WE GOT HERE

POWER

Powerful and Powerless

By Maria Shriver

ESSAYS

When We Were 9, We Were Honest By Carol Gilligan, Ph.D.

Gender Equality Is a Myth! By Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

Time to Wake Up: Stop Blaming Poverty on the Poor By Barbara Ehrenreich

Are Women Devalued by Religions? By Sister Joan Chittister

THE WORKPLACE

A Woman’s Place Is in the Middle Class

By Heather Boushey

ESSAYS

The Gender Wage Gap: A Civil Rights Issue for Our Time By Maya Harris

Making the Care Economy a Caring Economy By Ai-jen Poo

Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Broke By Danielle Moodie-Mills

The Changing Face of American Women By Angela Glover Blackwell

Empowering Latinas By Eva Longoria

THE FAMILY

Marriage, Motherhood, and Men

By Ann O’Leary

ESSAYS

America’s Working Single Mothers: An Appreciation By LeBron James

To the Brink and Back By Catherine Emmanuelle

Marriage and Children: Another View By Ron Haskins

What About the Fathers? By Dr. Kathryn Edin

A Call to Men: Ending Men’s Violence Against Women By Tony Porter

Women and Poverty: The Role of Lawyers and Family Law By John Bouman and Wendy Pollack

Evolution of the Modern American Family By Stephanie Coontz

EDUCATION

Get Smart: A 21st Century Education

By Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale and Dr. Nicole Smith

ESSAYS

Turning Poverty Around: Training Parents to Help Their Kids By Jennifer Garner

Living the Head Start Dream By Almeta Keys

Preschool for All: The Path to America’s Middle-Class Promise By Secretary Arne Duncan and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Afterschool Programs: Investing in Our Cities by Investing in Our Kids By Mayor Betsy Price

Higher Education: Interrupting the Cycle of Poverty By Eduardo J. Padrón, Ph.D.

Nikki’s Story

PART II: WHY WE MUST PUSH BACK

The Consequences of Living on the Brink

ESSAYS

The Chronic Stress of Poverty: Toxic to Children By Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, M.D.

The Trap: Mental Illness and Women in Poverty By Ron Manderscheid, Ph.D.

Armed and Vulnerable: Women in the U.S. Military By Sonya Borrero, M.D.

Human Trafficking and Slavery in the United States: ‘You Don’t See the Chains’ By Jada Pinkett Smith

Britani’s Story

PART III: THE NATION REIMAGINED

A New America that Cares

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

ESSAYS

America’s Promise, One Woman at a Time By Marianne Cooper, Ph.D.

PUBLIC SOLUTIONS

Putting Women at the Center of Policymaking

By Melissa Boteach and Shawn Fremstad, and introducing the Shriver Corps

ESSAYS

We Have Blown a Huge Hole in Our Safety Net By Peter Edelman

The Circle of Protection: Balancing the Budget Does Not Require Burdening the Poor By Leith Anderson

From VISTA Corps to Shriver Corps: Providing Solutions for 50 Years By Shirley Sagawa

A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter

On the Brink with a Disabled Child By Katie Bentley

PRIVATE SOLUTIONS

What If Employers Put Women at the Center of Their Workplace Policies?

By Ellen Galinsky, James T. Bond, and Eve Tahmincioglu, and introducing the Thrive Index

ESSAYS

Smart Business: Reviving the American Dream By Howard Schultz

Empower Women and You Recharge the World By Muhtar Kent

Microfinancing Women: Great Return on Investment By Tory Burch

PERSONAL SOLUTIONS

Personal Action, Collective Impact

By Anne Mosle and introducing Life Ed

ESSAYS

When Working Women Thrive, Our Nation Thrives By Sheryl Sandberg

When Women Achieve Their Full Potential, So Will America By Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

PART IV: IT’S TIME TO PUSH BACK

Where Do We Go from Here?

By Olivia Morgan and Karen Skelton

10 Things You Can Do to Power A Woman’s Nation

Increasing Economic Opportunities for Women: The Right Thing to Do and the Smart Thing to Do

By Hillary Rodham Clinton

Failure to Adapt to Changing Families Leaves Women Economically Vulnerable

By Anna Greenberg, David Walker, Alex Lundry, and Alicia Downs

Acknowledgments

About the Contributors