The Women’s March on Washington Reflects Americans’ Shared Economic Priorities

Image by Women’s March on Washington

For the next 48 hours, hundreds of thousands of Americans will gather in Washington to make their voices heard – both celebrating the inauguration of a new president and participating in the Women’s March on Washington. At JUST Capital, we’ve also been listening to Americans across the political spectrum, and we derive hope from the broad agreement on what we all value in a just economy.

With over 50,000 surveyed to date, JUST Capital’s polling work represents one of the most comprehensive troves of data on the issues Americans from all walks of life truly prioritize when it comes to business behavior and the economy. It represents a living portrait of the things we value most – a North Star, guiding us towards the kind of marketplace we can really believe in. No matter who we talked to, or where we went, no matter how wealthy the respondents were or what political ideology they embraced, providing fair pay, ending discrimination, paying a living wage, supporting a healthy work-life balance, and ethical leadership were identified as the true markers of a just economy.

The Drivers of JUSTness

The Women’s March on Washington’s guiding vision captures in stunning simplicity not only the attitudes and priorities of the organizers and their supporters, but the blueprint for building the thriving, inclusive economy that America wants.

Their guiding vision states: “We believe in an economy powered by transparency, accountability, security, and equity.”

Our research tells us their vision has a clear mandate from the American people.

We have proof that this blueprint works. Our top-ranked JUST companies (the JUST 100), compared to other large corporations, pay 20% more workers a living wage, have 16.6% more women on their board, created 80% more jobs in America, provide employees with more flexible hours or day-care services, recycle three times more waste, are twice as likely to commit to sound supply chain policies, and donate twice as much of their profit to charity.

Being just, equitable, and supporting women is not only what the American people demand, it’s also profitable. JUST 100 companies have outperformed their peers in the stock market by an average of approximately 5% annually since 2006, and generated a 5-year Return on Invested Capital approximately 3.5% higher.

As one of our respondents said, “JUST companies care about their workers, the communities in which they operate, and the larger world around us and our future. Corporate America has such power to affect and change, or doom, that future – JUST companies make the choice to make it better.”