Women of Color in Minnesota Fare Worse Than Their National Counterparts (2/15/05)

MCF NEWS ARCHIVES
2/15/05

Women of Color in Minnesota Fare Worse Than Their National Counterparts, New Study Shows

Women of color in Minnesota tend to be poorer, less healthy and have higher mortality rates than their counterparts nationally, according to a new study published by the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, in collaboration with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).

"The Status of Women of Color in Minnesota" analyzes 2000 U.S. Census data to examine the status of the 283,020 women of color in Minnesota — those of African, Asian, Native and Hispanic origin — who comprise 11 percent of the state’s female population.

The data is organized into three categories: economic status, employment and education; health and well-being; and political representation.

Some findings of the study include:

Economic status, employment and education:

Poverty rates among African American, Asian American and Native American women are higher in Minnesota than the national rates for these groups.

The single largest economic gap in Minnesota shows up in the poverty rates for white women vs. black women — 7 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

The lowest wages of all Minnesota women are among Hispanic women, a median of $23,500, and they are the least likely group of women to be college educated.

Asian American women in Minnesota are almost 10 percentage points less likely to have a college degree than they are nationally.

Health and well-being:

Although Minnesota women as a whole are more likely than women in the U.S. to have health insurance, 25 percent of low-income women in Minnesota are uninsured.

African American women are 46 times more likely to have AIDS than white women.

In 1999, the birth rate for Hispanic teenagers had risen to 137.5 per 1,000, up from 78.9 per 1,000 in 1989, making Minnesota’s Hispanic teen birth rate the second highest in the nation.

Political representation:

No woman of color has ever served in Minnesota’s congressional delegation.

Two women of color served in Minnesota’s legislature in 2004.

27 percent of elected tribal officials are women.

The study is an outgrowth of a series of "Status of Women in the States" reports by IWPR. In 2004, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota published "The Status of Women in Minnesota Counties," the first-ever example of applying IWPR’s methodology at the county level for an entire state.

This report was made possible through the support of Otto Bremer Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Levi Strauss Foundation and the Rockefeller Family Fund.

To download the full report, visit the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Web site at www.wfmn.org.

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