Why support Women?
Women Thriving. Colorado Rising.
The writing is on the wall. When we invest in creating equitable opportunities for women to thrive with access to livable wages, affordable child care, equal pay, education, and job training - stronger families, communities, and economies result. Helping low-income women achieve economic security builds a more prosperous Colorado for generations to come.
Who Do We Mean by "Woman?"
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado believes any person identifying as a woman is a woman - regardless of gender expression and including all trans women, intersex women, and non-trans women. The concept that people fall into only two gender categories - women or men - causes harm and exclusion for those of us who do not “fit” into a gender binary and to those of us who do. The enforcement and expectation of this gender binary is both oppressive and rooted in histories of colonization.
How Does the Success of Women Mean Success for All of Us?
Women entrepreneurs
Last year, a Forbes article highlighted a set of statistics outlining the business case for investing in women-led startups. Included in the list was data indicating private tech companies led by women achieve 35% higher return on investment than those run by men. Additionally, the article cited a study of over 350 startups that showed businesses founded by women deliver higher revenue—more than 2 times as much per dollar invested—than those founded by men.
Women and education
Mothers’ educational attainments have important benefits for children. Children whose mothers have more education tend to experience higher levels of cognitive functioning, higher levels of socioemotional functioning, and higher levels of academic achievement than children whose mothers have less education. (Foundation for Child Development)
Women and child care
A $44.37 million increase in Colorado’s economy would result if child care costs did not exceed more than 10% of family income. (National Women’s Law Center)
Women and equal pay
If Colorado women earned the same as comparable men in 2014, the poverty rate for all working women would have been cut in half and the state economy would have grown by an additional $9.2 billion. (The Economic Status of Women in Colorado 2015 with Institute for Women's Policy Research)
Women and the workforce
The U.S. economy would be $1.6 trillion larger today if American women entered and remained in the workforce at the same rate as women from Norway. Another way to conceive of the increase: $1.6 trillion would translate to roughly $5,000 more for every American. (S&P Global)
Companies with more gender diversity had nearly $599 million more in average sales revenue compared to those with less gender diversity. (American Sociological Association)
“The most underutilized economic asset in the world." – Angel Gurria, Secretary-General at Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Women and investments
Studies show that women reinvest their earnings into families and communities at higher rates than men do. Companies with more women in top leadership donate at substantially greater levels to the community than those with fewer women leaders. (Women for Economic and Leadership Development)
Women are 14% more likely than men to participate in job-related savings plans, and they save at higher rates despite the size of their income. Those earning less than $100,000 participate 20% more often. This helps relieve the economic burden on future generations. (Vanguard)
How you can make a difference for women and their families