The Status of Women in North Carolina: Executive Summary

The status of women in North Carolina reveals both women’s progress over the last few decades and places where their advancement has slowed or stalled. A report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), The Status of Women in North Carolina, shows that women are well-represented in the state’s elective executive positions and hold a higher proportion of state legislature seats than in 1996; have experienced a narrowing of the gender wage gap; and are much more likely now than 20 years ago to work in managerial or professional positions and to earn a bachelor’s degree or higher. In addition, women in North
Carolina are the equal or main bread winner in close to four out of ten families with children. The teen pregnancy rate in the state has also declined dramatically in recent years, and North Carolina’s women are more likely to receive certain preventive health procedures, such as mammograms, than women in the nation overall.