New Report on Women and the Economy Underscores "issues that Impact All of Us," Obama Says

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Forum on Women and the Economy, Friday, April 6, 2012, in the …As part of a White House forum on women and the economy, the Obama administration on Friday released a report addressing the unique economic issues American women face "through all stages of life."

"There's been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately, as there should be," President Barack Obama told an audience of entrepreneurs, academics, and business leaders at the White House on Friday. "But I do think that the conversation has been oversimplified. Women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. You shouldn't be treated that way."

[Related: Obama thinks women should be admitted at Augusta]

"Women are over half this country and its workforce -- not to mention 80 percent of my household, if you count my mother-in-law. And I always count my mother-in-law," he deadpanned as the audience laughed.

The new report -- Keeping America's Women Moving Forward, The Key to an Economy Built to Last -- also points out that while women make up the majority of students in colleges and graduate schools and are the breadwinners for more and more American families, they still continue to earn about 77 cents for every dollar paid to men.

"When women make less than men for the same work, that hurts families who have to get by with less and businesses who have fewer customers with less to spend," the President pointed out. "When a job doesn't offer family leave to care for a new baby or sick leave to care for an ailing parent, that burdens men as well. When an insurance plan denies women coverage because of preexisting conditions, that puts a strain on emergency rooms and drives up costs of care for everybody. When any of our citizens can't fulfill the potential that they have because of factors that have nothing to do with talent, or character, or work ethic, that diminishes us all. It holds all of us back. And it says something about who we are as Americans."

It's no coincidence that the report was released just as the President's re-election campaign kicks into high gear. With many women feeling like they're under attack by the GOP and the focus on reproductive rights, Obama has redoubled his efforts to reach out to female voters on topics including health care reform, jobs, and the economy.

The new report comes just 13 months after the White House Council on Women and Girls released "Women in America," it's first comprehensive report on women's welfare since 1963.

"Taking care of our girls is a big priority," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, the chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, told Yahoo! Shine last year. "There are challenges, and there are inequities, and we want to make sure that there is this level playing field for all of our girls."

The new report details steps that the Obama administration has taken to address these and other issues, starting with the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act in 2009 and touting the 1.1 million women who have benefited from health care reform since the Affordable Care Act went into effect.

"When we talk about these issues that primarily impact women, we've got to realize they are not just women's issues," the President said. "They are family issues, they are economic issues, they are growth issues, they are issues about American competitiveness. They're issues that impact all of us."

You can read the entire report here. What do you think of the Obama administration's track record with women and women's economic issues?

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