Beverly Eaves Perdue
Governor
State of North Carolina
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Oct. 11, 2012
Contact: Chris Mackey
Office: (919) 733-5612
Gov. Perdue Announces Findings From
‘2012 Status of Women in North Carolina’ Study
RALEIGH
— Gov. Bev Perdue today announced findings from the executive summary of the
2012 Status of Women in North Carolina
report. The study shows that women have made progress in narrowing the gender wage gap, attained higher educational achievement and greater access to healthcare in the 16 years since the last assessment was completed.
“Education is an important form of protection against poverty – not only for a wage-earning parent, but also for her children,” Gov. Perdue said this morning in a certified nursing assistant classroom at the Wake Tech Public Safety campus in Garner. “Economic instability for women casts a long shadow, but our push to make education and job-ready training more affordable and accessible is helping to turn the tide.”
The executive summary and data specific to the Triangle Metropolitan Region is posted to the N.C. Council for Women’s website at
http://www.councilforwomen.nc.gov/docs.aspx
. Additional data sets will be released in coming weeks, with the final report scheduled for January 2013.
Reflecting an important public-private partnership, the
2012 Status of Women in North Carolina
study is coordinated by the N.C. Council for Women. It is the first comprehensive examination since 1996 of data is four categories: political participation; health and well-being; education and earnings; and economic security and poverty.
“As a bank, we’re focused on smart investments. Investments should be made based on what is going to provide the best returns,” said Laura Schulte, president, Eastern Community Bank of Wells Fargo. “That is why we joined the effort to provide funding for this report. We need quality data to focus our investments and direct them toward the places that will create meaningful and measurable progress for North Carolina’s women.”
Funders include the Wells Fargo Foundation; Women for Women of the Foundation for Western Carolina; the Women to Women Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro; the Women’s Giving Circle at the Community Foundation of Cumberland County; the Mountain Area Health and Education Center Department of OB-GYN; and the Women’s Fund at the North Carolina Community Foundation.
Some the study’s findings indicate that in North Carolina, women are more likely than men to live below the federal poverty line, and families headed by single mothers have the lowest median income of all family household types. The study also noted income disparities for women. Statewide, women on average earn only 83 cents for every dollar earned by men. In the Triangle region, for example, the disparity is even worse, with women earning just 79 cents for every dollar earned by men.
For more information or post-event interviews with Beth Briggs, contact Department of Administration Communications Director Jill Warren Lucas at 919-8076-2496 or
jill.lucas@doa.nc.gov
.
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Alana Allen
Deputy Press Secretary
Press Office
Office of the Governor
(919) 733-5612
