The YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region undertook a special project in 2011-2012 in partnership with Saginaw Valley State University. The project has become a report titled: The Economic Status of Women in the Great Lakes Bay Region. The committee YWCA-SVSU Partnership Advisory Committee compiled data using specific indicators that give an overall picture of the economic status of women in the Great Lakes Bay Region. These indicators include employment & income, education, political leadership, health & wellness and crime & violence.

In 2007, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research completed a report titled: The Economic Status of Women in Michigan (IWPR, 2004) and in March 2011 the White House published Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being (White House Council on Women and Girls) and has served as the framework for our original report. Both of these publications provide a vital look into the status of women at a state and national level. However, the reports we create are unique in that it is specific to the Great Lakes Bay Region. As identified in the Michigan Report, “the economic status of women is intimately linked to their well-being in other areas of life and impacts women over a lifespan. For example, a woman’s earnings, access to health insurance, and likelihood of poverty may affect their ability to provide a decent quality of life for her family, to maintain her and her family’s health, or to move out of a violent or abusive relationship” (Economic Status of Women in Michigan, 2007).

Our reports are designed as tools for identifying the specific needs of women in the Great Lakes Bay Region and advocating for appropriate means to meet those needs. By compiling data we have a better picture of how women and their families are faring and what improvements need to occur in the region. In addition, this report will promote increased leadership by women in our community seeking to become advocates for change regionally.