By Ginger Humeston and Nina Frankonis, Co-Presidents

Newtown Business and Professional Women

The membership of the Business and Professional Women’s organization may give some indicators of what women in the workplace will be addressing in the future. At one time, it was necessary to “bang the gavel” for minimum wage, and child care was an invisible problem except to mothers and children. Child care is now everyone’s problem to solve along with other critical issues at the forefront – social security, health and education, professional opportunities, and pay parity. Working women are asking, how do we make quality and affordable child care available? How do we empower ourselves financially?

Women in business and the professions will continue to have more choices. The club’s membership now includes many entrepreneurs, women who have decided to leave corporate life and form their own businesses, women who partner with their husbands, and those who have decided to leave the workforce altogether and stay home to raise their children.

Women are creating educational forums to address financial matters. As they continue to gain confidence and trust their decisions, women will be empowered in planning, creating investment-portfolios, and making decisions on how to spend.

Working women now know they cannot “do it all.” More emphasis will be put on wellness – emotional, physical, and spiritual health, which will give women more choices in how they work. Increased financial empowerment will enable women to have more say in legislative, professional, and personal decisions that affect their lives.