According to research done by the Center for Research on Women at The University of Memphis, women who work full-time in Tennessee have a median income of only $20,927 per year -- $4,000 below the national median.
Dr. Barbara Ellen Smith, director for the Center for Research on Women, said a woman's ability to earn a decent wage affects her ability to afford health care, education or possibly to escape an abusive relationship.
The findings were presented on Nov. 15 at the Center for Research on Women's annual community issues forum.
This year's forum, hosted by the center along with the Tennessee Economic Council on Women, featured a report published by the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, DC, according to Center News -- a publication of the Center for Research on Women.
The Institute for Women's Policy Research analyzes and ranks the status of women in five key areas -- political participation, employment and earnings, economic autonomy, reproductive rights and family planning and overall health and well being.
According to Center News, Tennessee's highest ranking was 34th, in the reproduction and family planning category. The lowest rank Tennessee received was 46th, in the category of political participation.
"Last year the center produced (a study showing) a bare-bones living wage in Memphis for one adult and one child came to a total of $21,000," Smith said. She said this did not include vacations, savings or major purchases, like that of a car. Smith said it is sad that half of all women in Memphis are not making a living wage.
The Center News printed a series of findings showcased at the forum. In Tennessee, 22 percent of women aged 25 and older in 1998 had did not have a college degree, compared to 17 percent of women in the U.S. as a whole. However, 63 percent of Tennessee women were high school graduates, compared to only 61 percent of women nationally.
"We are working with a number of different women's organizations who advocate women's issues," Smith said.
Also according to Center News, in 1998, 54 percent of clerical and administrative personnel in Tennessee -- a work force mainly made up of women -- made between $6.75 and $11.25 an hour. On the other hand, 77 percent of professional and technical positions -- jobs mainly held by men -- were paid at rates above $11.26 an hour.
Some women's organizations are trying to stop the trend of women in the work force being concentrated in lower paying, clerical and administrative positions.
"Girls Incorporated works with girls in high school and younger, and builds their confidence in working in math, science, engineering and psychology," Smith said.
