‘It’s a painful reminder’: Delaware women face workforce, health care inequities, report says

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From working twice as hard to land her dream job to navigating a health care system that often failed her and her mother, Jaylin Harrison, a young African American woman from Dover, knows barriers to success all too well.

Her experiences mirror challenges highlighted in a report released last month from Delaware’s Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy. The Delaware Women Status Report says racial and gender inequalities persist in the workforce, health care and leadership, with women like Harrison bearing the brunt of these disparities.

The first-ever report from OWAA highlights women’s contributions to the state’s economic and cultural vitality, and shows significant progress in addressing challenges. The 70-page report emphasizes advancements in women’s leadership roles.

In 2000, 15 of the 62 state legislators were women. That number has grown steadily over the last two decades; after the 2022 election, 24 women are in the General Assembly, making up 39% of the members.

The report also found improved access to health care and a decrease in maternal and infant mortality rates in the state.

“We’ve made a lot of progress, you know, the report goes through some of the progress we’ve made, particularly around the number of women in office have increased,” said Melanie Ross Levin, director of the OWAA. “We also have had many more Delaware women have access to health insurance than ever before, [and] the maternal and infant mortality rates have gone down.”

In 2016, Delaware elected the first woman to represent the state in Congress when Lisa Blunt Rochester won her race for U.S. House. Alongside her, several other women occupy significant roles, including lieutenant governor, state auditor and state treasurer.

“We’ve made progress, but we still have more work to do,” Ross Levin emphasized. “You can see that particularly when it comes to Black and Hispanic women in the state, there are some challenges. For example, the wage gap overall for [white] women is 81 cents for every dollar earned by white men in Delaware, but for Hispanic women, it’s 53 cents, and for Black women at 61 cents,” Ross Levin explained.

‘It’s a painful reminder’

Harrison, a 24-year-old admissions recruiter at Goldey-Beacom College, has seen notable advancements in women’s representation and leadership. However, she’s personally faced  barriers in the job market, often feeling she must start at the bottom despite her qualifications.

“When it comes to the workplace as a woman, even though I have a lot of different experience under my belt, like having my bachelor’s and working in different areas… oftentimes, I don’t get picked and it is just disheartening,” she said. “You have to always start from the bottom and work your way up. It’s like you can never just have all these experiences and go straight into a leadership role.”

The report points out significant strides made in improving access to health care, with the percentage of uninsured women dramatically decreasing from 8% a decade ago to 5.1% now.

Even though she’s currently insured, Harrison said knows the struggle of not having coverage, something her mother, who is unemployed, is currently experiencing.

“It’s a painful reminder of how inequities in health care persist generation after generation,” she said. “I think that health care in itself isn’t just about access. It’s about trust in the quality of care received, but I also feel like communities of color have long been under underserved, dismissed, or even mistreated in the medical system and that has some real consequences.”

Ross Levin said the report found a lack of health care providers among Hispanic women, too.

“In Delaware, 8% of women overall say that they don’t have a health care provider or doctor, but if you look at the intersection of gender and race and ethnicity, 27% of Hispanic women report having no personal doctor or health care provider. So that’s really high compared to white women at 6% and Black women at 7%,” Ross Levin said. “We really need to do a better job of outreaching and providing health care providers to the Hispanic community in Delaware.”

“When we even look at some of the things that have improved like the maternal and infant mortality rate, if you look at the data for Hispanic and Black women, there are still large gaps between where those communities are and where white women are,” she added.

Efforts like House Bill 80 have made strides in addressing the infant mortality rate by expanding Medicaid coverage for mothers, yet more work remains to be done.

Following the release of the OWAA Women’s Report, leaders are now developing a new “activities” report aimed at addressing the findings. This report will include policy recommendations, resources and opportunities for collaboration among communities and organizations.