Increasing Engagement by Providers and Consumers, Greater Focus on Holistic Health at Heart of Changing Industry, CVS-Aetna Merger Plan

“This is a transformational merger and it gives us the opportunity to reshape the health care industry, Aetna President Karen Lynch said this past week, looking at the potential impact of a CVS-Aetna merger.  “We expect to transform what a CVS store looks like.” “For too long we’ve been practicing sick care and not health care and the potential of a CVS-Aetna merger is really to organize around the consumer and the consumer experience.  It will allow us to be in the local communities, to create another gateway to access healthcare and it will also give Americans a go-to destination for their health care services and their health care needs,” Lynch said.

Appearing this month on Conversations on Health Care, a radio program produced by Middletown-based Community Health Center, Lynch noted that CVS has over 10,000 stores across the United States and that 70 percent of Americans live within five miles of a CVS.

CVS Health chief executive officer Larry Merlo recently said the company’s $69 billion acquisition of health insurance giant Aetna is “making good progress” with state regulators and on track to close later this year, according to published reports.

Merlo said the company is seeking approval from 28 departments of insurance and many are holding hearings, with the key market of Florida already giving it approval. CVS also continues to provide information to the U.S. Department of Justice, which is reviewing the pharmacy chain's agreement to buy the Hartford-based health insurer.

Lynch described a post-merger CVS as “an interactive hub where individuals can come in and learn more about their health care, where they can access healthcare services and they can have further assistance in navigating the overall healthcare system.”  Right now, she said, “Your zip code is more important than your genetic code. What that means is your individual behaviors and your environment clearly have meaningful impact on health care costs.”

“Our overall goal is to achieve affordable, quality care for the individuals that we serve,” Lynch said. Lynch was named by Fortune as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in 2017 and 2016, and is one of the most senior women in the health insurance industry.  She joined Aetna in 2012.

CVS has a network of nearly 10,000 retail pharmacies in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Brazil and more than 1,100 Minute Clinic locations in 33 states. Aetna – the nation’s third largest insurer - has more than 20 million enrollees in its various health plans.  The latest CVS in Connecticut opened this weekend in West Hartford, supplanting a local pharmacy.

In looking ahead to evolving changes in the health insurance industry, Lynch highlighted three areas: provider engagement, consumer engagement and an increasing focus on holistic health.

She explained that “Aetna and providers have one common purpose – to improve the quality and affordability of health care and with value-based care we can demonstrate that partnership to do just that”.  She also stressed the importance of “consumer engagement, and being in local communities and really focusing on individual behaviors and the social determinants of care. I believe that can be a very powerful step in reshaping how we think about healthcare.”  Another key factor, looking ahead, will be holistic health, “treating the whole person, physical, emotional and behavioral aspects of one’s health,” which she said “could make a meaningful difference on the impact of healthcare.”

Noting that the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any country in the world, which continues to grow at what Lynch described as “an unsustainable rate,” Lynch said “we need to understand people’s health ambitions and we need to support them in their individual behaviors, we need to provide better access, and we need to give them more affordable and more transparent health care in America to really drive down overall health care costs.”

She indicated that 30 percent of Americans now suffer from diabetes, compared with less than one percent in the 1950’s. Citing another major – and costly – health concern, she said that 40 percent of adults and 20 percent of children are considered obese today.  And she said that over 900 billion dollars – one in three dollars – “is waste in our healthcare system.”

Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini has routinely stressed that "if we keep people healthier, there's lower costs in the system." He has described the health care system as “backwards” – responding to when people are ill rather than seeking to prevent the illness.

Lynch said that technology also drives the changing healthcare landscape, predicting that greater attention would be paid to “leveraging telehealth and telemedicine and having people have access in ways that are unique and different.”  Aetna, for example, is increasingly able to access data in real time utilizing newly designed apps and cloud technology, often placing nurses armed with ipads in individual’s homes.

“Having data at our fingertips will allow us to remotely monitor and get information about people where they are so that we can immediately get information back out to them,” Lynch said.  “Having real-time access can really change individual behaviors and how people think about their health.”

Conversations on Health Care focuses on opportunities for reform and innovation in the health care system. Co-hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter each bring four decades of experience in overcoming the barriers that block access to care in their work at community health centers.  It is heard on radio stations from Connecticut to Washington state, and online at www.chcradio.com.  Flinter is Senior Vice President and Clinical Director, and Masselli is the President/CEO of Community Health Center, Inc., Connecticut’s largest and most comprehensive provider of primary health care services for the uninsured and underserved.

CT Employment Lags New England States; Slight Job Growth is Anticipated

Connecticut has recovered the number of private sector jobs lost during the previous recession. However, during the past six years, Connecticut’s job growth has been significantly slower than the nation’s and that of our neighbor states, according to the new issue of The Connecticut Economic Digest, produced by the state Department of Labor. Between March 2012 and March 2018, Connecticut’s nonfarm employment is up 3.0 percent, with the private sector up 61,900 jobs (4.4%) and government employment down 12,100 jobs or 5.0%.  In total, Connecticut’s employment increase over the six-year period is the lowest among the six New England states, at 3 percent.  The others: Massachusetts, 10.1%; New York, 9.3%, New Hampshire, 8.0%; Rhode Island, 7.0%; Maine 4.8%; and Vermont, 3.2%.

Health Care and Social Assistance makes up the largest combined industry sector in the state, as in all of the New England states, comprising over 18 percent of Connecticut employment. In the past five years (year ending 2nd Quarter 2012 to 2nd Quarter 2017) Health Care has grown by approximately 5,000 jobs while Social Assistance has added nearly 10,000, according to the data.

Accommodation and Food Services is the third largest growing sector, adding more than 11,000 jobs from 2012 to 2017. This is consistent with changing consumer preferences and is also occurring at the national level, report authors Matthew Krzyzek, Economist, and Patrick Flaherty, Assistant Director of Research, at the Department of Labor, point out.

The occupational category of Transportation and Warehousing has seen strong growth in recent years. From 2012 to 2017, the sector has added nearly 5,000 jobs including 2,300 since 2015, largely due to online retailers such as Amazon adding warehouses and distribution centers in the state.  The consumer preference shift to online shopping is seen as responsible for the increase in Transportation and Warehousing employment, but has also negatively impacted Retail Trade, which lost jobs throughout 2017.

Manufacturing, the sector with the most losses since 2012, is down 8,600 jobs in the five-year period. Educational Services employment (public and private) which has long been a sector with employment growth, declined during the 2015 to 2017 period, influenced by decreases in school-aged population and state and local budget issues.

Current projections for Connecticut, for the two-year period from the second quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of 2019, suggest overall employment in Connecticut will increase by 1.1 percent. Connecticut’s projected 2017- 2019 job growth is slower than projected by most other states, although it is faster than the growth projected by seven states, including Delaware, Kansas and Maine, the Department of Labor review and analysis indicate.

Projections for the New England states range from anticipated growth of 2.9 percent in Massachusetts to .2 percent in Maine.  Connecticut’s expected job growth is second lowest among the six states.

Major Industries that are projected to have the largest percent employment increases are the Other Services, Leisure and Hospitality, and Construction sectors, which are projected to grow 3.0 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.1 percent, respectively.

The occupational groups expected to increase the most are Personal Care and Service Occupations, up 3,664 jobs, Food Preparation and Serving Related, up 3,592 jobs, Transportation and Materials Moving Occupations, up 2,367 jobs, and Healthcare Practitioners and Technical, up 2,308 jobs, according to the analysis.  The three major occupational groups projected to decline over the two-year period are Office and Administrative Support, down 1,736 jobs, Sales and Related, down 979, and Production Occupations, down 160 jobs.

“Connecticut’s short-term projections show that Connecticut’s slow employment growth over the recent few years is likely to continue, and sectors will continue to shift. Manufacturing is picking up while Education expected to slow. Connecticut is also part of a national trend which sees increases in warehousing and transportation while retail is under pressure,” the analysis points out. “Our best judgment is that the rapid growth seen in early 2018 will moderate but that growth will continue through the end of the projections period.”

CT Has 3rd Highest Catholic Population; 4th Most Jewish Among the States

Connecticut is the third most Catholic state in America, ranking just behind Rhode Island and New Jersey, in a national analysis by the Gallup organization.  Twenty-three percent of all Americans identify as Catholics, but there is wide variation in Catholic representation across states -- ranging from 44 percent in Rhode Island, the most Catholic state in the nation, to 6 percent in Alabama.  Connecticut is at 38 percent.  Other states with above-average Catholic representation include New York and New Hampshire, and then several more geographically dispersed states including New Mexico, Illinois, California and Wisconsin. One of the most significant trends in American religion in recent years, according to Gallup, has been the increase in the percentage of Americans who have no formal religious identity, rising from 15% in 2008 to 21% in 2017. These so-called "nones" are most prevalent in the two most Western states of the U.S., Hawaii and Alaska, and also constitute relatively high proportions of the population in a number of other Western and New England states: Washington, Vermont, Oregon, Maine, Colorado, New Hampshire and California.

Overall, the Gallup analysis found that Americans continue to be geographically segregated by religion. Protestants dominate in the South, while Catholics are most common in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, with some representation in the Midwest. Two smaller religious groups are also geographically concentrated: Mormons are a major population factor in Utah and Idaho, and Jews tend to be disproportionately located on the East Coast, the review of religion in America found.

About half of Americans (48%) identify as Protestants or other Christians who are not Catholic or Mormon. Protestants have long been a fixture of the Southern Bible Belt and that trend continued in 2017.

Connecticut has the fourth largest Jewish population, at four percent.  Only New York (8%), New Jersey (6%) and Massachusetts (5%) have larger Jewish populations.  Nationwide, Americans who identify their religion as Jewish are a small percentage of the U.S. adult population -- about 2% according to Gallup's review of 2017 data.

In a similar survey in 2004, Gallup ranked Connecticut as having the fourth highest Catholic population, at 46 percent, behind Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Jersey.  At that time, the state's Jewish population was the sixth highest percentage among the states, at three percent.

Women’s Economic Status in Connecticut Among Best in Nation, But Still Insufficient

Women are faring better in Connecticut than in most states in the nation, according to a new analysis that focused on data in two central areas of everyday life – Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity. Connecticut ranked 4^th in the Employment and Earnings category, earning a B+, and 4^th in the Poverty and Opportunity category, with a B- grade.

Status of Women in the States is a project of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a comprehensive project that presents and analyzes data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Institute suggests that the data can be used “to raise awareness, improve policies, and promote women’s equality.”

Connecticut’s grade for women’s Employment & Earnings, B+, has improved since the 2004 Status of Women in the States report.  Its grade for women’s Poverty & Opportunity, B-, has dropped since 2004.

In the subcategories of Employment and Earnings, Connecticut ranked Connecticut ranked 2nd in median annual earnings for women employed full-time, 5^th in the percent of all employed women in managerial or professional occupations, 13^th in the percent of women in the labor force, and 38^th in the earnings ratio between women and men employed full-time, year-round.

The Employment & Earnings Index measures states on women’s earnings, the gender wage gap, women’s labor force participation, and women’s representation in professional and managerial occupations. The top states were District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

Women working full-time, year-round have the highest earnings in the District of Columbia, where women’s median annual earnings are $65,000. Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are tied for second, with women in those states earning $50,000 at the median.

In the Poverty and Opportunity subcategories, Connecticut ranked 2^nd in the percent of women age 18 and older above poverty, 5^th in the percent of women age 25 and older with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, 10^th in the percent of women age 18-64 with health insurance, and 29^th in the percent of businesses owned by women.

New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey have the highest rates of women living above poverty in the country at 89.2 percent, 88.4 percent, 88.1 percent, and 88.1 percent, respectively.

The report noted that women in Connecticut aged 16 and older who work full-time, year-round have median annual earnings of $50,000, which is 76.9 cents on the dollar compared with men who work full-time, year-round. Hispanic women earn just 47 cents for every dollar earned by White men, according to the report. According to the report’s analysis, if employed women in Connecticut were paid the same as comparable men, their poverty rate would be reduced by more than half and poverty among employed single mothers would be cut in half.

In Connecticut, 32.7 percent of businesses in 2012 were owned by women, up from 28.1 percent in 2007.  The report also indicates that 94.2 percent of Connecticut’s women aged 18 to 64 have health insurance coverage, which is above the national average for women of 89.4 percent.

The report, published in March 2018, concludes that “Women in Connecticut have made considerable advances in recent years but still face inequities that often prevent them from reaching their full potential.”

Advancing Racial Equity in Nonprofits to be Among Themes for National Conference in Hartford

When members of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, a national association based in St. Louis, hold their 20^th anniversary conference this fall, they will be gathering in Hartford.  The conference, “Re-envisioning Our Field:  Advancing Racial Equity & Leading Innovation in Capacity Building,” will be held October 10-12 at the Hartford Hilton. The organization’s Board Chair is Anne Yurasek, Principal of Fio Partners, which is based in Chester, CT.  Yurasek has been an organizational development consultant and trainer for over twenty years in the nonprofit and private sector.

The Alliance is the “national voice and catalyst for the field of capacity building.”  The organization’s mission is to “increase the effectiveness of the individuals, groups and organizations that help nonprofits and communities achieve positive social change.”  The Alliance seeks to “create spaces for professional dialogue and learning by amplifying research in the field and promoting its implications for effective practice.”

More than 250 attendees will include consultants, coaches, funders, academics, and executives from across the country. The conference intends to “convene the diverse perspectives that shape and advance our field.”

The conference provides participants with the chance to “convene, dialogue, learn, shape and advance our field for the good of the nonprofits and communities we serve,” official explained.  The theme was selected because now “is a critical time for our field to reflect, to learn together, and to consider how our work should evolve to address racial inequities in our society. From amplifying emerging approaches to reflecting on research and exploring its implications for practice,” participants are urged to “bring your perspectives, experiences, and energy” to the annual conference.

The three-day event includes presentation opportunities with local nonprofits, work-sessions for Affinity & Interest Groups, twenty-plus workshop sessions “curated for capacity builders by capacity builders, and thought provoking plenary sessions.”

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management is the result of the 1997 merger of the Nonprofit Management Association and Support Centers of America. The organization is described as unique as a cross-sector professional association of individuals and organizations that are devoted to increasing the effectiveness of the individuals, groups and organizations that help nonprofits and communities achieve positive social change.

The 2017 conference was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

CT Ranks 15th Among Best States for Millennials, Analysis Reveals

The only state in the nation with a higher percentage of millennials living with their parents than Connecticut is New Jersey.  That is just one finding in a study of the best and worst states for millennials, in which Connecticut ranked fifteenth overall.  Why do so many millennials in Connecticut live with mom and dad in Connecticut?  Analysts say that high housing costs are to blame. Pushing Connecticut toward the top is the state’s third place ranking in the Education & Health category.  Pulling the state down are rankings of 41^st in Affordability, 29^th in Economic Health and 23^rd in Quality of Life.  The state ranked 17^th in Civic Engagement among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The best states for millennials, according to the analysis by the website WalletHub, are the District of Columbia, North Dakota, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Iowa, Wisconsin, Utah, Nebraska and Colorado.  Among the other New England states, New Hampshire came in at #12, Vermont at #14, Rhode Island at #26 and Maine at #28.

Connecticut's #15 ranking is filled with plusses and minuses in the component elements of the study.  The state, for example, has the 7th highest average annual cost of early childcare as a share of average earnings for millennials, at 23.85 percent. In housing cost for millennials, Connecticut ranks 38th, the average two-bedroom rent being 36.99 percent of this age group's average earnings, WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez points out.

The state has the second highest percentage of millennials who visited a dentist in the past year at 74.60 percent; the 8th highest percentage of millennials who had a routine checkup in the past year at 66.37 percent; and the 7th smallest percentage of millennials with no doctor visits in the past year due to cost, at 11.70 percent.

According to the Pew Research Center, millennials are expected to overtake Boomers in population in 2019 as their numbers swell to 73 million and Boomers decline to 72 million. Generation X (ages 36 to 51 in 2016) is projected to pass the Boomers in population by 2028.

The five dimensions, mentioned above, were weighted to determine an overall score on a 100 point scale using thirty relevant metrics including the cost of living, rate of home ownership and insurance, average student loan debt, voter turnout rate, unemployment rate, percentage diagnosed with depression and the average price of a latte at Starbucks.

Data used to create the rankings were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Council for Community and Economic Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Health Foundation, TransUnion, Corporation for National and Community Service, Indeed, Child Care Aware of America and WalletHub research.

CT's Firearm-Related Mortality Rate is 5th Lowest in U.S.; MA is Lowest, Seen as Model for Nation

The death rate from firearms in Connecticut is fifth lowest in the nation, according to data compiled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  The state follows Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Hawaii.  Connecticut’s 4.6 deaths per 100,000 residents, is slightly higher than Massachusetts’ nation-lowest 3.4 deaths.  And now Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markley is urging other states to follow the Bay State’s lead, and seeking federal funds as incentive for the changes. Markey's newly introduced bill would allocate $20 million in Department of Justice grants each year for the next five years to states that adopt laws like those in Massachusetts, according to published reports.  Perhaps best known is the state's ban on assault weapons, signed in 2004 by Gov. Mitt Romney, now a candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah. The state also requires gun dealers to conduct background checks, mandates private sellers to verify that buyers have a valid gun license, bans “mentally defective” people from owning firearms, and requires weapons to be unloaded and locked away when not in use.

Last year, Massachusetts became the first state to ban rapid-firing bump stocks after the Las Vegas shooting. At least 15 states – including Connecticut - are currently considering similar bans, and several others have tightened up restrictions already in place, Governing magazine recently reported.

In Connecticut, Governor Malloy has repeatedly called for a ban on bump stocks in Connecticut, and the matter is currently before the state legislature.  The bill was subject of a lengthy public hearing last week at the State Capitol complex.

Connecticut is also one of only five states – including Massachusetts - that gives police chiefs the authority to deny, suspend or revoke licenses for handguns and long guns. This aspect of the law has been cited as being instrumental in keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. In addition to Connecticut and Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, California, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey have enacted a law allowing local law enforcement to approve or deny gun licenses.

The highest per capita firearm mortality rates in the nation are in Alaska (23.3), Alabama (21.5), Louisiana (21.3), Mississippi (19.9), Oklahoma (19.6) and Missouri (19.0).  The United States average is 11.8.  The statistics are based on 2016 data, the most recent available.

Land of Steady Habits is 4th Most Unpredictable State, Analysis Shows

Connecticut, long seen as the quintessential Land of Steady Habits, is surprisingly ranked as the nation’s fourth most unpredictable state in an analysis that appeared recently in the Orange County (CA) Record. The analysis brought together three recent surveys: Best State to Raise a Family, by WalletHub; Best Livability from Gallup; and “Best state” by U.S. News & World Report. The analysis included each state’s overall rankings plus the subcategory scores that helped produce the three scorecards, the newspaper reported.

The goal was to use “standard deviation” on the factors in the three studies to see if there were any patterns of predictability.  And some were, more than others.  Predictability was not necessarily reflective of high regard.  West Virginia, for example, finished near the bottom of two of the three surveys, and thus was “predictable,” finishing high in predictability because of finishing predictably low in the various surveys.

The most unpredictable state was New Jersey, followed by New Mexico and Idaho.  After fourth-ranking Connecticut were California, Florida, Rhode Island, Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most predictable state was Minnesota, followed by West Virginia, Nebraska, Louisiana, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

In the three surveys studied, Connecticut ranked 11^th, 24^th and 20^th.  The composite of the three scores ranked the state 17^th in the U.S. on the three rankings combined.  Its’ range in the subcategories was from third to forty-third – hence the unpredictability.

Pay Equity Remains Elusive in Connecticut, Data Shows

The average Connecticut worker is paid over $7,398 more per year than workers across the country. By many measures, Connecticut is a very rich state. Disparities, however, remain abundant. Analysis by New Haven-based DataHaven of  the most recent U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data indicate that working women in Connecticut are paid 69 cents for every dollar paid to working men, as the state’s wage gap stubbornly continues.  The Connecticut gap is slightly wider than the national average, which indicates that women are paid 71 cents for every dollar a man earns.

The wage gap appears within each education level, according to the DataHaven analysis. In fact, Connecticut women who have attended some college but didn't complete a degree earn less money than men who never started college, and women with graduate degrees on average earn less than men with only a bachelor's degree.

Only 54 percent of working women in Connecticut work full-time, compared with 67 percent of men. That may be a possible explanation for women's lower wages - fewer women work full-time than men. DataHaven notes that part-time workers tend to earn much less money than full-time workers, and there are many reasons why someone might not be working full-time. “But that doesn't explain everything,” the DataHaven summary notes.

The analysis points out that the wage gap isn't closed among full-time workers.  Women working full-time earn 81 cents on the full-time male dollar.  The gap among full-time workers is smaller, but still persistent.

Taking the analysis one level deeper, DataHaven found that even within the same occupation type, women are paid less, and the gap is worse in some occupations than others. There's an especially large pay gap within the high-salary management, business, and finance occupations.

Connecticut also has a racial divide.  White and Asian women are much closer to closing the wage gap than Black and Latina women. On average, white and Asian women in Connecticut actually make more money than Black and Latino men, the data indicate. When looking at just full-time workers, white and Asian women are closer to equal pay with men, but black and

Latina women are paid far less.

DataHaven's mission is to improve quality of life by collecting, interpreting and sharing public data for effective decision-making. The organization has served Greater New Haven and Connecticut as a nonprofit organization since 1992, working with many partners to develop reports, tools, and technical assistance programs that make information more useful to local communities.

(Infographics developed by DataHaven)

Report Reflects Good News, Continuing Challenges for Women, Girls in Eastern CT

Women and girls in Eastern Connecticut are progressing in many ways, but gender equity is elusive in many others, according to a new report.  The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut commissioned DataHaven to develop a report on the Status of Women and Girls in Eastern Connecticut, and the findings provide an insightful snapshot of disparities that persist, and challenges that remain and may increase, as well as diminish, in the years ahead. The purpose of the 26-page report, explains the Community Foundation’s President and Chief Executive Officer Maryam Elahi, is “to help inform and guide thoughtful conversations and inspire local ideas for social and policy advancements and investments.”   It is designed to be a “platform for action” to increase opportunity, access and equity for women and girls in Eastern Connecticut, officials indicated.  It is the first time that such a report was developed.

Among the key findings:

• Young women are achieving in school, but greater educational attainment has yet to translate to economic equality.
• Positive educational outcomes and economic equality are further out of reach for women of color.
• Many occupations remain segregated by gender, and women make up a majority of part-time workers.
• Women are at greater risk of financial insecurity, with single mothers at the greatest risk. 25% of all children in Eastern Connecticut live with a single mother, and 90% of single-parent households are headed by a mother.
• Women in Eastern Connecticut are healthy, with a life expectancy of about 82 years—slightly above the national average, but below the state average.

The report also found that:

• The opioid epidemic continues to ravage our communities, with deaths of women in 2016 more than double those of 2012.
• Young women are at heightened risk for many mental health conditions. 35% of female students reported feeling hopeless or depressed vs. 19% of male students, and women are three times more likely to attempt suicide than men.
• Violence against women continues to be a major public health problem. Almost 5,000 women in Windham and New London counties received services from domestic violence shelters.

The report defines Eastern Connecticut as the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut service area:  42 towns that include 453,000 people, 227,000 women.  The population of the region is 80% white, 9% Latina, 4% Black and 4% Asian.  Approximately 33,700 residents, or 7 percent, are foreign born.  Looking ahead, the report noted that the population of women ages 65 and up is projected to grow significantly over the next decade; estimated to increase 44 percent by 2025.

Continuing racial disparities are highlighted by the finding that among 90 percent of girls in the region’s class of 2016 graduated high school within four years, yet nearly 20 percent of women in New London and Windham/Willimantic lack a high school diploma.

The report noted that “a persistent gap” exists for women with degrees in STEM fields. Overall, 51 percent of men vs. 30 percent of women majored in science and engineering fields. Encouragingly, of 25-39 year-old women with degrees, 37 percent majored in the sciences. This is higher than previous generations.

Although women comprise 76 percent of educators, only 11 out of 41 superintendents in the region are women.  The report also found that 25 percent of businesses are women-owned.

“Women’s equality,” Elahi said, “is not just a women’s issue. It affects the wellbeing and prosperity of every family and community.”

The Community Foundation has organized public forums to discuss the report findings.  The first was held last week in Hampton, the next is February 15 in New London.

New Haven-based DataHaven’s mission is to improve quality of life by collecting, sharing, and interpreting public data for effective decision-making. The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut serves 42 towns and is comprised of over 490 charitable funds, putting “philanthropy into action to address the needs, rights and interests of the region.”