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Report: Geographic, Racial Disparities In Poverty Rates, Insurance Coverage Among N.H. Women

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The non-profit New Hampshire Women's Foundation released its first demographics report Thursday on the status of women in the state.

 

On the surface, New Hampshire may look like its doing well when it comes to things like the rate of health insurance coverage, with more than 90 percent of adults having health insurance. But that's not the whole story, says Director of Policy at the foundation, Sarah Mattson Dustin.

 

"There are really significant disparities behind those numbers, for example, when it comes to health insurance coverage, 92 percent of white women have insurance, but only 77 percent of black women do," Dustin says.

 

Dustin also points to geographic imbalances, with six percent of women in poverty in Rockingham County compared to 13 percent in Coos County.

 

When it comes to the gender wage gap, the researchers say New Hampshire's progress has stalled, with women who work full-time, year-round earning 79 cents for every dollar men earn.

 

“When I look at the data over the last ten years, for example, I really read that as we’ve stagnated in terms of changes in the gender wage gap -- both nationally and in New Hampshire,” says Dr. Kristen Smith, family demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy and a co-author of the report.

 

The foundation hopes to put the the report in as many hands as possible, with the hopes it can assist educators and those in the media and maybe even help inform future policy.

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