AMPLIFYING WOMEN OF COLOR VOICES

This week, Intersections of Our Lives (Intersections) — a reproductive justice collaborative made up of Latina Institute, In Our Own Voice: Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, and National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum — released new research into the views of women of color on a wide range of issues, from health care and immigration to the economy and the health of our democracy.

The findings of the new study — the fourth of its kind to be sponsored by Intersections of Our Lives — underscore the urgent reality that for many women of color, economic security, self-determination, bodily autonomy, and political empowerment remain out of reach.

Key Takeaways:

For many women of color, the American dream — the idea that anything is possible if you work hard enough — feels unattainable.

• More than half (55%) of women of color across segments — Black, Hispanic and AANHPI (Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) — believe the traditional American dream is no longer accessible to them.
• More than a third (36%) say their family finances have worsened over the past year, with one in four (24%) saying their financial situation is tight and requires them to carefully watch their spending. One in five (21%) say they are covering their expenses with little left over, and around one in eight (13%) say they are struggling to make ends meet.
• The majority (89%) are concerned about affordability and the cost of living, and nearly two in three (64%) have delayed major life decisions, including nearly a quarter (23%) who have put off buying a home and around one in five (21%) who have delayed getting health care.

Women of color see the ability to choose if and when to have children as critical to their economic security, family stability and self-determination.

• Seventy percent believe that being able to plan when to have children helps women succeed in their careers.
• Sixty-four percent say that women are more likely to finish their education when they can choose if and when to have children.
• Sixty-two percent believe that women’s financial stability improves when they can make their own reproductive choices.

Meanwhile, few women of color think the government is doing a good job of supporting their ability to choose if and when to have children.

• Just 15% rate the government as doing a good job of providing access to reproductive health care, and less than one in five (18%) say the government is doing a good job at ensuring people can choose whether to have children.
• Around one in 10 (12%) rate the government as doing a good job of making it possible to afford to raise children.
• Only 17% believe the government is doing a good job of creating safe communities to raise children.

The pressing concerns revealed in this research — about rising economic pressure, limited access to reproductive health care, and a weakening democracy — are not separate challenges; they are interconnected and compounding barriers that shape the ability of women of color to support their families, to make decisions about their bodies, and to participate fully in civic life. Their experiences and views point to the critical need for policies grounded in reproductive justice, including those outlined in Intersections of Our Lives’ Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda 2025, which centers around three key pillars — healthy body, healthy families and communities, and healthy democracy. By advancing policies that support these three pillars, lawmakers can address the structural inequities highlighted in this research and help to build a society where every person can make decisions about their body, family, and future without fear or restriction.