By Jaime McDougall – Senior Director of Marketing at DailyPay and Co-chair of DailyWomen.
This Women’s History Month feels different. It feels more important than prior years because of the extraordinary health crisis, racial tension and social justice movements that are occurring all around us today.
Unemployment is high, especially among women minorities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
There is also the increased burden of childcare, with many school-aged children still at home. Moms are bearing the brunt of home schooling and other responsibilities in the home more than before. In fact, almost 3 million women have left the workforce since the pandemic began, many giving up the dream jobs they worked their whole lives to secure.
This year has taken a toll on women’s overall health – mental, physical and financial, so we need to look at ways we can help to ease the burden and make women’s lives easier where we can.
What we’re doing about it
I don’t take for granted the opportunity I have to lift up other women around me. As the founder and co-chair of DailyWomen and as a senior voice at fintech leader DailyPay, I show up every day thinking about these questions:
- How can our technology benefit all Americans — especially the 56% of women on our platform?
- How can we create an environment inside DailyPay that will allow all female employees in the organization to thrive and be the best versions of themselves?
FinTech Helping Women’s Access to Finance
Our financial system is flawed. Its design benefits the wealthy and penalizes the poor. We see this clearly in the thriving $11 billion payday loan industry that disproportionately affects minorities and single-parent homes where women are often the sole providers.
DailyPay’s technology is democratizing the way people access their pay. Through partnerships with some of the largest employers in the U.S, we are opening access to money for all employees, and especially for women. I have met many of these strong and hard-working women across the country. We take special interest in the role that women play in their households, in particular, as it relates to their finances.
They are hard-working
They have great financial goals
They are great providers for their families
What all these women have in common is they are hard-working and deserve the same access to financial fluidity as everyone else.
We Win With Diversity
I’m especially proud to work for an organization that really practices what they preach. Our 300+ person company not only has a Head of Diversity & Inclusion, but a Diversity Leadership Committee and employee resource groups (like DailyWomen). At DailyPay, we also donate to many causes that affect women’s health and wellness.
We’re proud that almost half of our workforce self-identify as women in a male-dominated industry. This is especially important to us as the majority of our users are female. Through our diversity of background, experience, opinions and views, we continue to build a sustainable business.
Diversity is more than just the sum of our many parts. At DailyPay, we believe it’s our superpower. It’s how we win.
What you can do?
Celebrate women, especially this month, by addressing their needs. Don’t stop there. Take a step back. Evaluate how you can make diversity and the diverse needs of women a part of your DNA. All of us have a responsibility to acknowledge these truths and the inequities that exist today, and then to do our part to overcome them.
If you are a leader in your organization, be aware of how you’re showing up for women — your clients and partners as well as the women inside your organization.
Diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t just about ticking a box, they’re about understanding different perspectives and acting on them. That’s what makes good business sense.
Happy Women’s History Month
