CPA News Releases, Advisories, and Editorials

Washington, D.C. — Thousands of women from around the world will gather in New York June 5-9 for a U.N. Special Session (known as “Beijing +5”) to assess what governments have done to advance the status of women since the 1995 U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. In preparation for assessments taking place in New York, CPA has produced State of the States: Facts on Women & the Economy–(PDF), a state-by-state snapshot of U.S. women’s economic progress over the last five years.

At least 125 workshops, meetings, speeches and presentations will consider global progress on implementing the UN’s Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women. Deliberations cover the Platform’s 12 “Critical Areas of Concern,” including women’s economic empowerment. The Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the AFL-CIO Working Women’s Department will sponsor the Women 2000 Economic Empowerment Forum on June 6, focusing on issues such as economic security, entrepreneurship, workers’ rights, and family investment in the context of both the global and national economies. Confirmed speakers for the opening plenary include Lawrence H. Summers, Secretary of the Treasury; Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO; and Linda Tarr-Whelan, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women and Deputy Chair of the Beijing +5 U.S. Delegation.

“Women’s roles in the economy are central to the well-being of nations. Beijing +5 provides us with an opportunity to assess women’s status and the solutions that encourage women to reach their full economic potential — without sacrificing the values of family and community. As you can see from the indicators in this report, U.S. women still have a ways to go,” states Tarr-Whelan, who also serves as CPA President.

Detailed state-by-state facts on women’s economic status can be found on CPA’s web site at www.StateAction.org. In conjunction with the Economic Empowerment Forum, CPA will release a full report detailing legislative progress at the state level on four issues key to improving the economic foundation of women. It will include an examination of policy movement since 1995 on equal pay, paid family leave, entrepreneurship and the Convention to End Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, also known as the Women’s Convention).

Highlights of the State-by-State Snapshots of Women’s Economic Status:

Women’s Economic Security Snapshot includes data on women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s along with the percent of women at or below the federal poverty level.

• The five states where women’s earnings are closest to men’s are the District of Columbia, California, Florida, Hawaii, and Arizona.
• Women living in New Hampshire, Alaska, Utah, New Jersey, and Wisconsin are least likely to be poor.
• Despite the strong economy, in many states the percentage of women living in poverty continues to rise. Mississippi is at the bottom, where more than one-in-five women live in poverty. In 19 states, the percentage of women in poverty increased from 1990-1998 (AZ, CA, CT, DE, DC, FL, HI, IL, KS, MD, MA, NH, NH, NM, NY, PA, RI, VA, WA).

Women’s Entrepreneurship Snapshot examines the percentages of businesses owned by women and the sales revenue generated since 1995.

• Today, women own more than 1/3 of all businesses in the U.S. and are starting up new businesses twice as fast as men.
• Last year alone, women-owned businesses led economic growth in all 50 states. Women in Washington, D.C. lead the country, where they own 45% of all businesses, followed by New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming and Washington State.
• In New Mexico, women increased their share of businesses by more than 2.5% in just three years.
• Women-owned businesses in California generate more sales revenue than in any other state – $548,750,200 in 1999 alone.

Women’s Health and Security Snapshot looks at the percentage of women and children without health care.

• Even with record low unemployment, health care coverage has stagnated or gotten worse for women in over half of the states.
• Women in Texas are least likely to have health insurance, where nearly 22% – more than one in five – women have no insurance. Hawaii ranks highest with more than 93% of women having some form of health insurance, followed by Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut and North Dakota.
• Children in Texas are the least likely to have health insurance – more than 25% of children have no health coverage. Children are more likely to have health care insurance in Vermont (where more than 93% of kids are insured), Hawaii, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

The Family and Work Snapshot looks at childcare workers’ wages as a percentage of median earnings along with the percent of 65 and older population who are women.

• In every state, childcare workers make less than the median wage for that state. In most states, they make less than $7 an hour – less than we pay for dog walkers and hedge trimmers.
• The states where childcare workers do the best compared to other workers in their state are Maine, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Dakota and New Hampshire.
• The aging of the baby boomers is impacting every state and this has profound public policy implications, from health care to elder care. Women are the majority of the elderly in every state.
• The five states where women comprise the greatest percent of seniors 65 and older are Hawaii, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Connecticut.

Interview opportunities: Media interested in interviewing Linda Tarr-Whelan can make arrangements by contacting Kristina Wilfore at 202/387-6030 x. 141. For more information about CPA, refer to our web site at www.stateaction.org.

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