To kick off Women’s History Month, WalletHub, a personal finance company that provides many services and tools to empower consumers to have a healthy financial life, released its report on the best and worst states for women.
The report mentions that even though women outnumber men in most states in our country, women still get the short end of the stick. Even the state you live in has much to do with your treatment. The state of Georgia received an overall ranking of 43rd out of the fifty states. We are ranked 39th for the share of women in poverty, 49th for high school graduation rate and for uninsured women, and 23rd in the share of women who voted in 2020. I contacted former state representative CaMia Jackson, now a Vice Chair with GEORGIA WINS LIST, to speak about these rankings and what they really mean for our state and country.
I asked Jackson what her thoughts are on our state’s overall ranking of 43rd for women in the United States. She speaks about our state being ranked #1 for business but 49th for women graduating from high school.
I’ve shared some of the figures with you from the reporting on our state, and it actually seems as if some numbers have gotten even worse for women. She goes on to speak about funding for schools being unequal and that the funding numbers in our state haven’t been updated since the 1980s.
Georgia is ranked 49th in uninsured rates for women. Jackson speaks about the expansion of Medicare that didn’t take place in our state. She also speaks about the minimum wage of $7.25 for service jobs where many women are employed. When asked how we go about changing these numbers Jackson speaks to the need to vote and engage with elected officials. She also speaks about the need for more women to run for office. Jackson shares here journey to state representative and speaks about the challenges women may face in that endeavor. When she ran in 2018 she was told that women needed to be at home. We all know that women belong in the house and the senate in our states and national offices.
For more information on the WalletHub Report on Women
For more information on Georgia Wins List
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