F:\HSD\SHARE\COMMISSIONS-ADVISORY
BOARDS\COSW\Staff Reports\Rpt on Status of Women-girls.doc
City Council Meeting: December 14, 2004
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Commission on the Status of Women
Subject: Presentation of
Recommendations Based on the 2004 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in
This report transmits recommendations from the Commission on the Status of Women (Attachment I) stemming from findings contained in the “Report on the Status of Women and Girls in Santa Monica 2004” (Attachment II).
In late 2003,
the Commission on the Status of Women (the Commission) initiated a project to
gather and analyze extant information on women and girls in
w Identifying areas of inequality between women and men and girls and boys; and
w Formulating recommendations for City Council review on issues needing to be addressed through further study and/or action.
The final Report identified four
primary areas that are important to the status of women and girls in
w Education,
w Employment and income,
w Poverty, and
w Crime
Key findings (pages 2-4 of Attachment I) include:
w Women and men make up fairly equal proportions of the population until the age of 70, when women begin to make up a significantly larger percentage of the population.
w
Girls make up 44% of students enrolled in public
high school in
w
Thirty-seven percent of women in
w Although education levels for women are comparable to men at all levels except at the professional or doctorate degree level, the median income for women is below that for men.
w
More than
half of the mothers in
w
Women make up 56% of the population living below
the poverty level; 95% of those receiving CalWORKS in
Public input to the Report focused on identification and elimination of barriers
that prevent more women from running for and being elected to Santa Monica City
Council.
Based on an analysis of the data presented in the Report, the Commission formulated three primary recommendations (page 1, Attachment I). They are:
w That all City departments and City-funded agencies cooperate with the COSW in identifying relevant data and developing the means to collect gender based demographic information in order to aid the Commission in periodically updating the report.
w
That City staff be directed to ensure the
involvement of the COSW in key initiatives related to Common Work Objectives
and Department Objectives that impact the welfare of women and girls in
o The Common Work Objective to enhance the quality of life, safety and community involvement of residents of the Pico neighborhood;
o The Common Work Objective to incorporate ways to achieve the goals of the Sustainable City Plan into daily activities and special projects; and
o The Community and Cultural Services Department Objective initiative to evaluate changing trends in the delivery of senior services and develop strategies for needs-based programming.
Although the
Report includes thirteen detailed recommendations, the Commission believes that
the most immediate issues for investigation and action relate to enhancement of
the quality of life for women and girls in
Implementation of
the recommendations outlined above will require coordination and dissemination
of information from departments working on the objectives listed by the
Commission’s staff liaison.
Additionally, the Commission may call upon various departments involved
in realizing the objectives to present information at Commission meetings. Input from the Commission will pass back to
the appropriate departments through the staff liaison.
The recommendation
presented in this report does not have any budget or financial impact.
Recommendations
The Commission on
the Status of Women recommends that City Council receive the Report on the
Status of Women and Girls in
Prepared for the Commission by: Janet
Hand, Sr. Administrative Analyst
Commission
Staff Liaison
Human
Services Division
Community
and Cultural Services Dept.
Attachment I: Recommendations to City
Council
Attachment
II: Report on the Status of Women and
Girls in Santa Monica 2003