A new report from The Women’s Foundation takes a detailed look at women, poverty and economic security.
This week, the U.S. Census Bureau released new numbers showing that the recession has raised the national poverty rate to a 15-year high. According to the Census Bureau, 4 million additional Americans were living in poverty last year, bringing the national total to 44 million. That means that one in seven Americans is poor. And the poverty rate for women was four points higher than that of men.
As always, The Women’s Foundation is keeping an eye on the big picture, while at the same time focusing our attention and resources on the women and girls of our region. For more than a year now, The Foundation has been working with a number of partners to determine both the needs and strengths of this community, and we’re excited to report that our groundbreaking study will be released to the public soon.
Next month, Washington Area Women’s Foundation will be unveiling 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area. This landmark report will take a comprehensive look at the lives of women and girls in the Washington metropolitan area and guide The Women’s Foundation’s future grantmaking. Portrait Project 2010, as we call it, will contain new information about income, education, housing, health and and safety, and philanthropy and leadership in our community.
Portrait Project 2010 will be unveiled to the public on October 14th at The Women’s Foundation’s 12th annual Leadership Luncheon and Community Briefing. Between now and then, we will be releasing some of the most compelling facts from the report. Visit our blog frequently for new information. We’ll also have updates on Facebook, Twitter (using #PortraitProject) and LinkedIn, so be sure to join us there, too.
Today’s fact from Portrait Project 2010 is about women and poverty. While these numbers are separate from the recent Census Bureau statistics, they are just as startling and even more critical to the residents of our community. In our region, 160,551 women and girls live below the poverty line. There are more than 22,000 women-headed families with children living below the poverty line, making this the family type with the highest poverty rate. And the poverty rate in the District is much higher than in the surrounding region. Even within D.C., there’s a gap in the poverty rate across the board. For example, the poverty rate in Ward 3 is estimated at six percent, while Wards 7 and 8 are estimated at 27 percent.
These are among the reasons why The Women’s Foundation focuses its grantmaking on improving the economic security of low-income, women-headed families with children. And it’s why Portrait Project 2010 will have recommendations for what we can do right now to improve the outcomes for these families.
