Alaska women earn less than men, were imprisoned at a higher rate during the last decade and are committing suicide at a rate twice the national average, according to a new study released Tuesday.
"There were some shocking results, some disappointing results," said state Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, who requested the study from the Legislative Research Services. The request was made after McGuire said she reviewed the 2010 Alaska Victimization Survey, for which 1,000 Alaska women were interviewed.
Among its findings, the review found Alaska women make 77 cents for each dollar a man earns in full-time, year-round work. That's comparable to the national average, the study says. However, the figure drops to 67 cents on the dollar for women when both full- and part-time are included.
Nearly 56 percent of unmarried men with children under the age of 18 own their own home in Alaska. For a single mother, that rate drops to 42 percent.
According to the review, Alaska has the sixth-highest concentration of homeless people in the nation. Of all single people in shelters in 2012, a quarter of them were women. But 62 percent of all adults with children in a shelter were women. Domestic violence is the leading cause for homelessness in women.
Well that is an even more troubling picture of the difficulties faced by women in our state than even I realized.
I know that many women seem to suffer more than men with the lack of daylight during the winter months and have lived through many a depression cycle during my years as a married man. Up here they call that SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and it can get so bad that it has quite a lot to do with our increased suicide rate, drinking, and episodes of domestic violence,
I would assume that none of this is helped by the fact that the most prominent woman in our state is also a national laughingstock. Not exactly something that inspires women living in the Last Frontier to overcome adversity now is it?
Very sad news for the women there. It surely doesn't help that Palin exploited herself to men to get her jobs and then was a total and complete failure.
ReplyDeleteIt would inspire me to move south! I live in MI, and we are just now getting some sunny days, after four months of mostly clouds, snow and cold. It just makes you feel better!
ReplyDeleteHomeless in Alaska? That must be pretty miserable...it's one thing to sleep in your car in Florida; quite another to try it when it's below zero. Do you have a lot of deaths of the homeless Or jsut lots of shelters?
Can I ask why you used a picture of the Mother and her daughters from that Alaska Flying reality show...
ReplyDeleteYeah that doesn't fit.
DeleteI removed it.
Jesse, as a mother who raised 4 children in rural Alaska for the most part by myself, I can tell you that the weather and darkness are not the primary cause of depression. The dark cold winters certainly can exacerbate depression but lack of enough money to live on, an abusive relationship, surviving rape or assault, lack of resources and respect as a parent, all cause depression and even despair. If you ever had to go into debt so your children could participate in sports or buy shoes, if you've been demeaned as a parent in parent conferences or trying to talk with a coach, then you would realize that weather is the least of your problems.
ReplyDeleteAnd where did Mama Gruzzly stand on all this wimmin stuff?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ontheissues.org/2012/Sarah_Palin_Civil_Rights.htm
Palin statements in November of 2008:
ReplyDeletePalin, to reporters captured by MSNBC:
We're raised up here to to know that, um -- you talk about equality? You see equality in Alaska. And so that's a good question, because I think that was a bit of a surprise on a national level, was -- what, you mean the other 49 states aren't quite there, like Alaskans are? Well come on, follow Alaska's lead and start allowing the equal opportunities and the equal treatment.
AND THEN YOU HAVE in the enclosed footage:
Brad Bailey to V.P. Candidate Palin at a rally: I'm the only minority here, my question is, how can you encourage more people to show up? How will you make that happen?
Palin: We've got to be all about equality. The constitution preaches - Todd is Alaskan and if you go up to Alaska, we have a problem with Todd being a minority up there. We live it. We've got to do a better job about that. Thanks Brad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxQWVpw6NCw
this is important information - i hope that there is a better future for these women.
ReplyDeleteVitamin D takes care of SAD, yes, a simple vitamin D tablet once a day.
ReplyDeleteThe inequality...well..that's not easily fixed.
A state to where just recently charged rape victims for rape kits. A state where it is stull "funny" to throw things at their native peoples. A state that continually votes republican and by doing so supports intolerance, misogyny, and racism.
Sorry, but SAD isn't your biggest issue causing depression.
Good News! Lesil Mcguire and her caucus mates are on the job to make...
ReplyDeleteAlaska is inhospitable to women..... what about Wasilla? Under Mayor Sarah Palin's regime, Wasilla's females had to pay for their own rape kits! Can't forget that Governor Sarah Palin's husband ran a prostitution ring and Alaska hasn't done anything about that.
ReplyDelete"Up here they call that SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and it can get so bad..."
ReplyDeleteThey call it SAD elsewhere also. It can be very debilitating in any northern area with very short days in the winter.
Vitamin D as mentioned above, can help, and may be all that some people need. In my case, I found that a dawn simulator is essential for waking as nature intended, gradually with the dawn, instead of being jarred out of a sound sleep when it's pitch dark, by an alarm clock. I need a light box, dawn simulator, and Vitamin D to make it through the winter where I live.