December 22 , 2006

Study: NH Women Progressing

Author: Michael  McCord

CONCORD -- Just how much economic progress are New Hampshire women making?

They're doing better than many states in some categories but lagging behind in others, according to a recently released report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based national think tank.

The study, "The Best and Worst State Economies for Women," ranks New Hampshire 12th in the nation on women's Employment and Earnings, a composite index that includes women's median annual earnings, participation in the labor force and prevalence in managerial and professional occupations.

The state ranks eighth in the nation on the Economic Policy Environment, a second composite index that includes women's educational attainment, business ownership, poverty levels and health insurance coverage.

Overall, the study's authors said that despite real gains in women's economic well-being, substantial barriers remain.

A statewide expert on women's economic issues said the study confirmed much of the research done at the state level in 2005.

"Women are important contributors to New Hampshire's strong economy, but the gap between women's and men's earnings remains, despite women's gains in educational attainment," said Katie Merrow, executive director of the New Hampshire Women's Policy Institute, the Concord-based nonprofit that commissioned and released the 2005 study.

Merrow said that 47 percent of the state labor force is female (up from 41 percent in 1999) and that with half of all college graduates in the state being women, more of them are moving into the work force in unprecedented numbers -- the state ranks in the top third at ninth for the percent of women with a college education -- 32 percent.

Merrow said the national study showed a wide range of interesting indicators. Median annual income for full-time, year-round working women in New Hampshire is $34,000, the 10th highest in the nation; the ratio of women's to men's earnings is 71 percent, up from 69 percent in 2004 but below the national average of 77 percent.

"In Vermont, the ratio is 79 percent and we're curious to find out why there is such a gap between the two states," she said.

Sixty-five percent of women in New Hampshire are in the labor force, and 35 percent of the state's working women hold managerial or professional positions, the 15th highest percentage in the country.

But Merrow said that the state has a "granite ceiling" when it comes to women on company boards: New Hampshire has 8 percent representation while the national average is 14 percent.

Merrow said the good news is that New Hampshire ranks first in the nation for the percent of women living above poverty, at 93.4 percent, but the state ranks 43rd for the percent of businesses that are owned by women -- though it is a leader in earnings growth for these businesses.

Merrow said the information is important to formulate policies in areas such as raising the minimum wage (in 1999, 57 percent of all minimum wage workers were women) and child care and for businesses to use for their own policy decisions.