IWPR Report: The Status of Women in the States

July 9, 2015

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research has issued their annual report on The Status of Women in the States, and yet again, it’s bad news: there continue to be massive gender disparities in income, poverty rates, education, and overall opportunity, to the detriment of women in the United States. In fact, according to 2015’s report, we’re moving backward as a country; the status of women has worsened in 29 states over the past decade.

But despite the fact that we know the news isn’t going to be good, we always look forward to the IWPR’s report, because they always find great ways to make the data come alive—with things like interactive maps, great charts, and shareables that really bring home the grim story they’re telling.

One thing that struck us was this section on poverty by household type—and the sobering statistic that 43.1% of all households headed by an unmarried woman with children have income below the poverty line. That troubling number is one of the reasons we think it’s so important for unmarried women (and the Rising American Electorate as a whole) to become more politically involved and active—because we need a country that works for all of us.

We hope you’ll take the time to check out the data for yourself.

What We're Reading

U.S. Census: Unmarried and Single Americans Week

To commemorate Unmarried and Single Americans Week (September 17-23), the U.S. Census has produced a “Facts for Features” profile (PDF) of 2016 census data about unmarried Americans. Here are some of the highlights:

There are 110.6 unmarried people 18 or older in America, making up 45.2% of the U.S. adult population.
35.4 million Americans lived alone in 2016, representing 28.1% of all US households — up from 17.1% in 1970.
Despite unmarried people being 45.2% of the U.S. adult population, only 39.6% of voters in the 2016 presidential election were unmarried.

Read the rest of the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Facts for Features” profile (PDF) on unmarried Americans.

Millennials to pass baby boomers as largest voter-eligible age group, and what it means

For the first time, millennials next year will pass baby boomers as the largest generation of Americans eligible to vote.

By Ronald Brownstein, CNN Senior Political Analyst

July 25, 2017

(CNN)In 2018, the American electorate will cross a historic threshold that could reshape the political balance of power-or leave Democrats fuming in frustration at continued Republican dominance of Washington.

For the first time, millennials next year will pass baby boomers as the largest generation of Americans eligible to vote, according to the well-respected demographic forecasts from the States of Change project at the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group. That transition will end a remarkable four decades of dominance for the baby boomers, who have been the largest generation of eligible voters since 1978, when they surpassed what’s been popularly referred to as the Greatest Generation (or G.I. Generation) raised during the Depression. Read more here.

How Votes Have Shifted: Changes in Partisan Performance 2000-2016

Demographic change is slowly, but inevitably, moving Western states to the left.

By Reid Wilson

The 11th story in The Hill’s Changing America series, in which they investigate the demographic and economic trends shaping the nation’s politics. Nevada’s booming growth underscores the two trends working most in Democrats’ favor: the rising power of cities that are acting more reliably liberal, and the expanding influence of Hispanic-Americans who are becoming the nation’s largest minority community. Read more here.

IWPR Report: The Status of Women in the States

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