Georgia women carrying more of load – especially in Black families


Families with white mother

Share with woman breadwinner….Percentage married

Utah 34.2% ………… 59.8%

Hawaii 37.5% ………… 58.4%

Alaska 43.4% ………… 60.2%

N.J. 44.6% ………… 66.8%

Idaho 45.6% ………… 54.1%

Wyo. 45.9% ………… 53.7%

Texas 45.9% ………… 58.0%

La. 46.1% ………… 52.0%

Wash. 46.8% ………… 55.5%

Georgia 46.8% …… 61.6%

Family with Hispanic mother

Share with woman breadwinner … Percentage married

Ala. 40.4% ………… 44.6%

Georgia 44.0% .…… 43.6%

Tenn. 45.2% ………… 39.4%

Okla. 45.3% ………… 42.0%

S.C. 46.6% ………… 39.2%

Miss. 47.3% ………… 46.6%

N.C. 47.8% ………… 37.2%

Va. . 48.3% ………… 47.3%

Utah 48.3% ………… 50.0%

Texas 48.8% ………… 40.7%

Families with black mother

Share with woman breadwinner… Percentage married

Colo. 73.0% ………… 32.2%

Kan. 75.7% ………… 28.5%

Ariz. 76.8% ………… 30.2%

Minn. 77.3% ………… 26.2%

N.J. 78.2% ………… 27.7%

Va. 78.5% ………… 29.8%

Texas 78.7% ………… 28.8%

Georgia 78.8% ……… 27.5%

Fla. 79.4% ………… 29.1%

Md. 79.8% ………… 32.7%

Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Family finances are more and more a matter of a woman's paycheck, according to a just-released study by a Washington, D.C. research group.

And in Georgia – as in most states – the share of the burden carried in a household with children differs dramatically by race, according to data assembled and analyzed by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

In Georgia, 46.8 percent of families with a white mother have a woman breadwinner – and most of them (61.1 percent) are married, the institute found.

In contrast, 78.8 percent of families with a black mother have a woman breadwinner – and most of them (72.5 percent) are single.

Among Georgia families with a Hispanic mother, 44.0 percent have a woman breadwinner and more than half (56.4 percent) are single.

In all three groups, Georgia is in the bottom ten for share of women breadwinners in all three categories, well below the national average, according to the think tank.

There are some common themes, according to the organization: There are more single black breadwinner mothers than married ones in every state.

But the issues are broader than just race, wrote Julie Anderson, a research associate at the IWPR.

“In the United States, half of all households with children under 18 have a breadwinner mother, who is either a single mother who heads a household… or a married mother who provides at least 40 percent of the couple’s joint earnings,” she wrote.

The organization released the research along with a call for policy changes: the group supports expanded public support for childcare.

“Expanding publicly funded early childhood care would ensure that eligible parents can receive child care whether they are employed, looking for work, or pursuing education or training, and would increase the family’s disposable income and standard of living,” wrote Anderson.