Encore Presentation

Rickey Gard Diamond, author of a book on personal economics for women, Screwnomics, got her first education in economics at a welfare office. It was the 1970s, and newly divorced, she just couldnt make ends meet. She thought it was her fault.

Since then, however, Rickey has made a study of how our economy works “and doesn’t work” for women and people of color. She started an organization, An Economy of Our Own, to bring together people who are working to address inequity. And they’re not just doing it by putting fixes on top of our system. They’re questioning the system from the bottom up.

In this episode, we talk about the origin of the disconnect between economic indicators and our household realities. Women operate in an economy that was designed to ignore and devalue much of the work we provide. Rickey describes our economic system not as an inevitable fact, but instead as a story to be retold with all people in mind.

‘If you’re not doing well, it must be because you’re not managing your money very well. There’s something wrong with you!’ That kind of thinking affected me when I was a divorced mom with three kids. I had $50 a month in child support and I still could not make my budget add up. 

Photo used with permission of Rickey Gard Diamond.