The Status of Women In North Carolina Eastern North Carolina

 Who We Are  Advocacy agency within the NC Department of Administration  Established by executive order in 1963 by Gov. Terry Sanford  What We Do  Advise the Governor, state legislators, and state leaders on issues that impact women and their families  Monitor grants to 237 service providers  Domestic violence, sexual assault, and displaced homemaker  Certify all NC Batterer Intervention programs The NC Council for Women

Demographics

Distribution of Women and Girls by Race and Ethnicity in Eastern NC, in 3 women and girls are a racial or ethnic minority Median age for women—43 years 19% are 65 years old and older compared to 15 in the state

Work and Earnings

Women and Men in the Labor Force in Eastern NC and the NC,

Labor Force Participation  Labor force participation rates  64% Hispanic women  56% Black women  54% White women

Employed Women and Men Working Full- Time and Part-Time, % of women in NC work part-time for child care or family reasons compared to only 3% of men IMPACT: Part-time workers are less likely than full-time workers to receive paid leave, health care insurance, and employer- sponsored pensions

Employment Types by Gender, in 3 women work in managerial and professional positions Gender segregation within various occupational groups

Gender Earnings Comparison  Median annual earnings for women in Eastern NC working full time was $29,476 compared to $36,871 for men  The gender earning ratio for full-time workers is 80%  Median annual earnings for both women and men in Eastern NC were lower than the rest of NC ($3,024 less for women and $3,929 for men)

Women with Children 77% of women with dependent children are in the labor force compared to 74% in the state 92% of men with children work in Eastern NC. This suggest that women are more likely than men to cut back on employment when they become parents

EDUCATION

Women Education levels in Eastern NC and North Carolina, Eastern NC women are less educated than NC women as a whole

Women and Men’s Education levels in Eastern NC, Eastern NC Women are more educated than men in Eastern NC

Gender Earnings by Educational Attainment, Aged 25 and older,

Gender Earnings by Educational Attainment  Education allows women to earn more  The median annual earnings for women with a bachelor’s degree or higher is more than $12,000 less than the median earnings for men with this level of education  Education still matters

Poverty

In Eastern NC, as in North Carolina overall, poverty varies considerably among the largest racial and ethnic groups For all the racial and ethnic groups shown, poverty rates are higher for women than for men Poverty Status by Race/ Ethnicity,

Women in Poverty,  In Eastern NC, 38% of households within 200% of the poverty line receive food stamps, a higher than the average 33% in North Carolina  Women are more likely than men to live below the poverty line in Eastern NC (18% compared with 12%)

Families with Single Mothers  In Eastern North Carolina, the share of families headed by single women with children among all families with children ranges from 18 percent (in Perquimans) to 47 percent (in Hertford and Hyde)  Families headed by single women with children make up a disproportionate share of families living in poverty; in 17 of 20 counties in Eastern North Carolina, more than six in ten families in poverty with dependent children are headed by single women  In North Carolina as a whole, only eight percent of single women with children under 18 and family incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line receive welfare cash assistance

Childcare

Importance of Childcare Early care and education programs provide an important workforce support for mothers and fathers. Affordable, quality child care makes it possible for parents to do their jobs while knowing their children are receiving adequate support and a good education In the absence of quality, affordable children care, many women interrupt their tenure in the labor market, reducing their ability to provide for their families and save for retirement while other women may be forced to put their children in low-quality, unreliable care

Cost of Child Care Cost of Year-Round Child Care – Ranges from $6,227 for a four year old to $9,185 for an infant – For contrast annual cost for tuition and fees at public college in the state are $5,685 Child Care Subsidies – In Eastern North Carolina, only a small percentage of children who are eligible for child care subsidies receive them. – The number of eligible children ranges from 190 to 5,051 per county, while the percentage of eligible children who receive a subsidy varies from 10 percent (in Camden) to 29 percent (in Pamlico)

Health

Importance of Healthcare  Health is an important component of women’s overall well- being that contributes to their economic stability, educational attainment, and employment opportunities.  Women as a whole in this region have worse health outcomes on a number of indicators than their counterparts in the state.  This suggests that health remains an aspect of women’s status in Eastern NC that needs to be examined and addressed.

Health Insurance, Same proportion of women in Eastern NC do not have health insurance as in the state Lack of health insurance coverage leaves women without coverage not only for basic wellness and check up visits, but also for severe or chronic medical problems.

Health Concerns  On several other selected indicators of women’s health, Eastern North Carolina has relatively poor outcomes, including:  age-adjusted mortality rate from heart disease  Diabetes  Breast Cancer  Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases  The majority of counties in Eastern North Carolina for which teen pregnancy rates are reported, the rates are considerably higher than the overall state rate of 43.8 per 1,000 teens aged 15–19.  Currituck and Halifax counties have the highest teen pregnancy rates at 64.3 per 1,000 and 64.1 per 1,000, respectively

Conclusion  Many women in Eastern NC are thriving, yet the data reviewed show that there are still areas for improvement, including:  The wage gap  Access to affordable child care  Educational attainment

Policy Recommendations  Promoting quality flexible working practices to make it easier for parents to combine paid work with caregiving  Increasing financial supports, including child care, for women with low levels of income  Expanding career counseling and mentoring for women and girls  Facilitating further access to education and encouraging women and girls to pursue education and careers in nontraditional areas

Policy Recommendations  Monitoring workforce development to ensure that women and men have equal access to training in high-growth, well- paid careers  Supporting more targeted teen pregnancy prevention programs and increased support for teens who are already pregnant and parenting  Improving access to health services needed to monitor and address conditions such as heart disease and diabetes  Ensuring that all families who need it receive welfare cash assistance from “Work First,” North Carolina’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program

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