Half of Kern County\u2019s population is female, but women here are far more than \u201cjust girls.\u201d They are teachers, college graduates, nurses \u2014 and local leaders pushing for progress. A new report from the Women\u2019s and Girls\u2019 Fund highlights both the advances and ongoing challenges facing women in Kern County.<\/p>\n
Christina Bynum, Vice Chair of the Women\u2019s and Girls\u2019 Fund, says while women are making gains, there is still work to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all the progress we do make there\u2019s still so much work to be done. So, even as women\u2019s wages are going up, women are still making less money per dollar than men,\u201d Bynum said.<\/p>\n
Bynum says women in Kern County also face health and safety challenges. Death rates from diabetes and heart disease are higher among women, and while breast cancer is more common among all women, Black women have the highest mortality rates.<\/p>\n
However Bynum says, women are also excelling in education, with 21% of women having a 4 year degree and with 42% of high school girls graduating meeting UC or CSU requirements, leading to other local victories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a decrease in teen pregnancy, which was something that was also of interest because we noticed as women have more access to education, it affects just their daily decisions,\u201d Bynum said.<\/p>\n
Chair of the Women\u2019s and Girls Fund Dayna Nichols says the report comes out once every five years, this is now the third one to be published.<\/p>\n
Nichols says the idea is for non profits to read the information and then add or change the resources they provide to better align with community needs. The fund will then provide grants to help non profits do just that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the very beginning domestic violence was a big issue and so I know that there were organizations here in town that had grants that were focused specifically on that,\u201d Nichols said.<\/p>\n
As a result, Nichols says they\u2019ve seen a decrease in domestic violence calls since 2021.<\/p>\n
Bynum says this year, they\u2019ve reached their goal of being able to provide at least $100,000 in grants and are excited to see the change for local women.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realize that we have a limitation for what we know but we understand from the data that there is a need and here is a group willing to jump in and fill that need,\u201d Bynum said.<\/p>\n