This morning I attended an excellent forum on The State of Women in Chester County where The Blueprint Report: Leveraging Progress was presented. The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls published this report which seeks to identify significant issues and trends and bring them to the forefront of our awareness, conversations, and planning. This is the third edition of The Blueprint Report. The first was created in 2005.
During the presentation, I was reminded of the power of information, especially data. In our planning work, we emphasize the importance of a leadership team having the qualitative and quantitative data they need to fully understand an issue and make informed strategic decisions. Without this background information, organizations can be swayed by inaccurate perceptions and spur-of-the-moment thoughts. Data is a powerful force in focusing dialogue and forming strategy that leads to action that is targeted, strategic, and positively impact.
The Blueprint Report looks at seven areas:
- Employment and earnings
- Work and family
- Poverty and opportunity
- Reproductive rights
- Health and well-being
- Violence and safety
- Political participation
There is a comprehensive report with over 140 pages of information on the methodology and results of the study. For a quicker read, there is also a 34-page summary report and a one-page graphic summary for each issue area.
The high-level takeaway is that we’ve made progress, but have a long way to go. Here are just a few data points from the report:
- Child care costs in Pennsylvania exceed 40% of the median annual income of single mothers.
- At our current rate, the wage gap in Pennsylvania will not close until 2072.
- 25% of elected seats of councils and boards in Southeastern Pennsylvania are held by women.
The ensuing discussion was energetic and passionate. These issues touch all of our lives whether we work or live in Chester County, or both.
I encourage you all to read at least one of the publications from the report – at least the quick graphic one-pagers, but better yet would be the summary report. If you are a business person, it will help you understand the environment in which you are doing business, or the workforce from which you draw. If you are a nonprofit provider, it will help you understand the context of the population that you are serving and where the intersect points are with the issues that you are addressing. If you are a resident, it will help you understand the community in which we live.
Thank you to the CCFWG for this excellent work. I’m sure we will use the report in our planning work with nonprofit clients in the region. I hope all our actions will lead to an even more significant improvement in these outcomes by the time of the next report.
