CHICAGO, IL ( October 3, 2018 ) — Today, Chicago Foundation for Women ( CFW ) released the second edition of its annual Report on the Status of Chicago's Women and Girls. The report uses 2016 data from the U.S. Census and Illinois Department of Public Health to track the Chicago region's progress towards gender equity.
Compared to 2015 data, women's labor force participation, and corporate and political leadership increased, relative to men. While the teen birth rate decreased, the percentage of families headed by single women increased.
"At first glance, the path to parity for women in the workplace seems assured, but the devil is in the details," CFW President/CEO K. Sujata said. "Women of color continue to face significant challenges. We need to invest in the success of Black and Latina women, and create workplaces, communities and policies that work for all women."
The report examines rates of higher education attainment and labor force participation for women by race and ethnicity, finding that while women as a group are at or near parity in these areas, significant disparities remain for Black and Latina women. The data also confirms that women are over-represented in fields such as healthcare and underrepresented in non-traditional fields such as construction, natural resource extraction, and maintenance.
The report also features profiles of four CFW grantees — Warehouse Workers for Justice, Women Employed, Center for Advancing Domestic Peace, and Chicago Freedom School — whose work is focused on advancing women's equity in the labor force participation, addressing violence against women and empowering young people to be leaders for reproductive justice.
CFW will continue to monitor these indicators and release annual updates on the status of women and girls in our region, including how the Chicago community can take action to achieve gender equity.
The report can be found here: www.cfw.org/app/uploads/2018/10/GenderEquity2018_Report_Final.pdf .
—From a press release
About Chicago Foundation for Women: Chicago Foundation for Women invests in women and girls as catalysts, building strong communities for all. CFW funds organizations working to solve the biggest problems facing women and girls: economic insecurity, violence and lack of access to health care and information. In addition to grantmaking, CFW invests in developing women leaders and advocates, and brings together diverse coalitions to collaborate, share resources and develop solutions.
