A newly released report from Washington Area Women’s Foundation provides in-depth data on the status of women and girls in the District, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland; Fairfax and Arlington counties in Northern Virginia and the city of Alexandria. The report, “2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area,” found women and girls of Prince George’s County are disproportionately impacted in almost every indicator. The study results found:
• The largest number of single women raising children in the region resides in Prince George’s County (37,582 versus the District’s 27,362).
• The median family income for this family type in Prince George’s County is $42,368. Estimates show that a household headed by one adult with one infant and a preschooler require an annual income of $50,554 to make ends meet.
• Unemployment disproportionately affects women of color in Prince George’s County; 12 percent of Latinas and 6 percent of African-American women are unemployed.
Meanwhile, the report findings showed more local women are obtaining advanced degrees. Half of all area women in the region have a bachelor’s or graduate degree, up from 43 percent of women in 200, the study showed. Also, the proportion of women without a high school diploma dropped from 130 percent to 10 percent over the past decade.
The Washington Women’s Area Foundation, a nonprofit network of women activists and donors, has issued the “Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area,” since 2003.
For more information and to view the report online, visit www.TheWomensFoundation.org.