Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is claiming that President Barack Obama is waging a "real war on women" with his economic policies.
While speaking at a public event Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, Romney fought back against Democratic claims that the GOP has waged a "war on women" due in part to the recent contraception controversy.
Instead, the former Massachusetts Governor said, it is the Obama administration's failed economic policies that have hurt women.
"The real war on women has been the job losses as the result of the Obama economy," Romney said, claiming that women have accounted for more than 92 percent of the jobs lost under Obama.
He added, "If we're going to get women back to work and help women with the real issues women care about - good jobs, good wages, a bright future for themselves, their families, and their kids, we're going to have to elect a president who understands how the economy works, and I do."
However, fact-checking website PolitiFact rated Romney's claim that women accounted for 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under Obama as "mostly false," saying that the "numbers are accurate but quite misleading."
PolitiFact noted that the number cited by Romney reflects job figures from January 2009 through March 2012 even though Obama's policies had not yet taken effect in early 2009.
"Second, by choosing figures from January 2009, months into the recession, the statement ignored the millions of jobs lost before then, when most of the job loss fell on men," PolitiFact added. "In every recession, men are the first to take the hit, followed by women."
The results of an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday showed Obama with a 51 percent to 44 percent lead over Romney among registered voters, benefiting from a 57 percent to 38 percent lead among registered female voters
In a statement, the Romney campaign said Obama is to blame for the number of unemployed women increasing by 858,000.
"If President Obama is eager to talk about policies that are not working for women, he should examine his own failed economic record," said Gail Gitcho, Romney Communications Director.
She added, "After presiding over an economy where more women have struggled to find work than at any time in recorded history, the last thing President Obama is qualified to lecture on is how to get the economy moving again for America's women."
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.