Innovative hub combines local economic and social data in a single, easy-to-access online portal
Kansas City, MO – The Women’s Foundation today released a new research report and interactive research hub to help policy makers solve challenges faced by Missouri women.
“Although there is some good news for Missouri women, the data shows there is much work to be done to improve the lives of Missouri women and their families,” said Wendy Doyle, President & CEO of the Women’s Foundation. “The Women’s Foundation is committed to working for meaningful change, and we hope this research tool helps policy makers make informed decisions about important issues facing Missouri women and their families.”
During a virtual press conference, the Women’s Foundation released a full research report on the Status of Women in Missouri and demonstrated some of the innovative capabilities of this new interactive research hub. The hub’s functionality includes pulling regional and county-specific data and generating customizable maps.
The interactive research hub, which is now publicly available can be accessed here:
http://www.communitycommons.org/groups/womens-foundation/
“Before the Women’s Foundation spearheaded this project, comprehensive statewide information about women in Missouri was not available in a usable way, and it certainly was not interactive and local. Now, through our collaboration with the Foundation, Missourians have a central research hub with a wide variety of data that’s accessible at any time and routinely updated,” said Jacqueline Schumacher, Policy Analyst at the University of Missouri’s Institute of Public Policy.
Findings from the research highlight areas of possible action to help women and their families better succeed. Examples of statewide and regional findings include the following:
ECONOMIC AND INCOME
- In Missouri, women who work full-time earn 29 percent less than male workers for the same work.
- In Carroll County, women make only 51 percent of what men make.
EDUCATION AND CHILDCARE
- In Missouri, 27 percent of counties lack any accredited child care centers.
- In the Bootheel area, 21.7 percent of women 25 years and older do not have a high school degree, compared to a statewide average of 11.7 percent and a national average of 13%.
HEALTH CARE
- At least 650,000 Missourians are without health insurance.
- Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting women, and Missouri had an annual incidence rate of 122.6 per every 100,000 women in the state, which is similar to the national rate of 122.7 per every 100,000 women nationwide.
ECONOMIC SECURITY AND AGING
- In Missouri, two-thirds of seniors living in poverty are women.
- High poverty rates are mainly concentrated in the larger urban areas of Missouri such as in St. Louis City where the poverty rate is 29 percent, but these high poverty rates also affect rural counties such as Benton, Dallas, Hickory, Laclede, and Polk which have a poverty rate of more than 23 percent.
LEADERSHIP
- Although women comprise 51 percent of the state’s population, only 25 percent of seats in the General Assembly are held by women.
- No executive branch officeholders are women.
The extensive research project was commissioned by the Women’s Foundation and included focus groups conducted by market research firm Sounding House, a research study and analysis conducted by academic experts from the Institute of Public Policy in the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs at The University of Missouri, and the interactive research hub hosted on the Community Commons platform.
The Women’s Foundation promotes equity and opportunity for women and girls, using philanthropy, research and policy solutions to make meaningful change. More information about the organization can be found at www.Womens-Foundation.org.
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