Research on the Status of Women

The Mass Commission on the Status of Women has completed a county by county report including basic demographics and data on: employment and earnings, poverty and self–sufficiency, education, health and wellness, and political representation. This report (75 page PDF file) can be downloaded here

To augment this report, the Women's Fund commissioned the Center for Policy Research at UMass Dartmouth to conduct a survey to break out Fall River and New Bedford data. This survey (PDF file) can be downloaded here.

Just a few examples of the information available in these two reports are:

audience

  • 11% of women in Bristol County are living in poverty (10% MA overall)
  • Earnings for women in Bristol County average $28, 543 ($33,281 MA overall). For men, average earnings are $40,497.
  • Earnings for area women fall below this County average - Fall River ($17,158) and New Bedford ($16,297).
  • No high school diploma - New Bedford (41.8%) and Fall River (43.2%) numbers are higher than those of Bristol County (26.5%)