The document discusses two lesser known ways that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) improves the well-being of women and their families. First, the ACA requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for hourly employees to express breast milk at work. Research estimates this will allow an additional 165,000 mothers to breastfeed their infants until at least six months of age, benefiting over one million mothers and children. Second, the ACA established a Pregnancy Assistance Fund to provide support services to pregnant and parenting students in postsecondary education. This fund helps over 14 states and 3 tribal entities provide services like childcare and housing to help student parents complete their degrees. Given that over one in four college students

1. Two Lesser Known Ways the Affordable Care Act Improves the Well-Being of Women and
their Families
By Mary Sykes
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a recent major step towards creating affordable and
preventive health care in the United States. The ACA was enacted in March 2010 in order to
increase health insurance quality, quality of care, access of care to uninsured Americans, and,
importantly, reduce the costs of health care for individuals and the government. While there has
been much discussion around the value and efficacy of the system as it currently works, it is
difficult to argue that the law has no benefits, particularly for women. Some of these benefits—
such as greater access to preventive services and “well-woman visits,” and protections against
being charged higher insurance premiums on the basis of gender—are well documented.
IWPR’s research explores two lesser-known impacts under the ACA that affect women and
families:
 Mothers will be granted reasonable break time and a place to express breast milk
while at work. The ACA provides the first national standard for nursing mothers at work
requiring that employers offer hourly employees a safe space where they can pump breast
milk. IWPR research estimates that as an effect of the ACA’s breastfeeding provisions,
an additional 165,000 mothers annually will breastfeed until an infant is at least six
months old. This projection indicates that more than one million mothers and their
children will benefit from health gains due to breastfeeding by 2016.
 The ACA establishes a Pregnancy Assistance Fund as a support for student parents
in postsecondary education. The Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) is a $25 million
competitive grant program that provides funding to 14 states and three Tribal entities to
provide pregnant and parenting women and girls with supportive services to help them
complete high school or postsecondary degrees. For example, the PAF helps student
parents acquire health care, childcare, family housing, and many other critical services.
Given that more than one in four college students have children, these services will help
many young mothers earn a postsecondary degree, begin a career, and provide greater
financial support for their families.
These two lesser-known provisions of the ACA may have far-reaching economic impact by
ensuring that low-income mothers and their children are healthier and become more
economically secure.