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The Status of Women in Northeast Wisconsin Report

The Women’s Fund, in collaboration with the Women’s Fund of the Fox Valley Region, Fond du Lac Area Women’s Fund and the Women’s Fund of Greater Green Bay, has released two Status of Women in Northeast Wisconsin Reports.

The 2017 report gives a current and comprehensive picture of the most pressing issues for women and girls in Northeast Wisconsin. Using data compiled in partnership with the Wisconsin Women’s Council for Brown, Fond du Lac, Outagamie and Winnebago Counties, as well as the state of Wisconsin, the report is intended to help inform local communities about the realities experienced by women and girls.

 
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2017 Report on the Status of Women in Northeast WI

2011 Report on the Status of Women in Northeast WI

What are some of the key findings in the report?

  • Poverty rates are higher for women than men, across all age groups, and older women are twice as likely as older men to be in poverty.

  • Regionally, the wage gap ranges from 72 cents on the dollar on average for women in Fond du Lac County to 78 cents in Brown County.

  • In Northeast Wisconsin, 27% of businesses are women-owned, up from 24% in 2007 but still below the statewide percentage of 31%.

  • One out of five women in the region has some college experience, but has not completed a degree.

  • Almost half of all single-mother households with minor children received FoodShare benefits in 2015 –nearly twice the rate for single-father families and more than four times the rate for married-couple families.

  • The teen birth rate in Northeast Wisconsin continues a steady decline, following the statewide trend.

  • Women in our region have fewer poor physical or mental health days than in the past.