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State Fact Sheets: Economic Security for Women and Families
In order to advance economic security for women and families in each state, policymakers should prioritize policies that ensure economic equality and health care access for all.
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This page was last updated on August 12, 2021, to account for new developments.
Women and their families can be vulnerable to economic insecurity and poor health outcomes. In 2019, women working full time, year-round earned an average of only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men—and the disparity is worse for women of color. Women make up the majority of minimum wage workers in the United States, and women are more likely than men to live in poverty. Forty-one percent of mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners in their families and may struggle to balance paid employment with caregiving responsibilities. Cuts to funding for family planning services such as Title X and reduced access to comprehensive health services also harm women, especially mothers, and infants.
By learning the facts about the status of women in their respective state, lawmakers can prioritize policies that ensure economic security and health care access for all. Women and families need equal pay; supportive workplace policies such as paid family and medical leave and paid sick days; and access to comprehensive reproductive health care including abortion. These policy recommendations can address the needs of women and their families and help them get ahead—not just get by.
The following fact sheets provide an in-depth look at the status of women and their families in a given state. They include state-specific data on:
- Equal pay
- Minimum wage
- Health care and reproductive health services
- Paid sick days
- Fair scheduling
- Paid family and medical leave
- Child care
- Gender-based violence
- Immigration
- Incarceration
- Women’s political leadership
The state fact sheets are accessible below:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
CAP’s Women’s Initiative is a comprehensive effort to marshal CAP’s broad expertise and promote public policies that enable women to participate fully in our economy and our society.
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