MSMU RSWG 2023 final - Flipbook - Page 23
Poverty hits single-mother households particularly hard when the mother is not employed; well over
half (59%) of their families live in poverty. When the single mother is able to work, other issues arise —
the issues faced by all working parents. Chiefly, how to find the time to meet paid job objectives and
domestic work (housework, childcare, caregiving for other family members), while taking care of self, too.
MEANING BEYOND WORK AND FAMILY
The pursuit of meaning and purpose often include searches both inward (faith) and outward
(community engagement). California’s women and girls are no different.
Faith and spirituality
When it comes to religious affiliation, California’s diverse residents create a mosaic of some of the
country’s most diverse faith communities. According to a 2021 report from the Public Religion
Research Institute:
• Santa Clara County has the fifth-greatest religious diversity in the nation.
• Imperial County has the ninth-highest concentration of Latinx Catholics in the nation.
• Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Mateo counties have three of the top 10 concentrations of Hindu
Americans in the nation.
• San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties have four of the top 10 concentrations
of Buddhist Americans in the nation.55
In the most recent study published by the Pew Research Center, Christianity was the most common faith
tradition among California women, practiced by 69% of female residents. Among all Californians, 63%
identify as Christian, 27% identify as unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic, no religion), and 9% identify as nonChristian faiths (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, other world religions).56
In other realms of spirituality, 57% of women meditate at least once a week, compared with 43% of
men.57 Among all California adults who feel “a sense of spiritual peace and well-being several times a
year,” 51% are women; 49% are men.58
Community engagement
Research shows that civic engagement can give people a greater sense of “belonging, self-esteem,
sense of control, and symbolic immortality, four key areas of meaning in life.”59
FIGURE 11
CALIFORNIANS ENGAGED IN VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY WORK60
IN THE PAST YEAR
WOMEN
MEN
2019
13%
12%
13%
11%
2020
2021
11%
Source: 2019–2021
California Health
Interview Survey
11%
EVER
43%
GIRLS
BOYS
27%
Note: The exact survey
question for this table
was “Have you engaged
in formal volunteer work
on community problems
in the past year/ever?”
37%
21%
24%
16%
In total, among all Californians, 5.7 million residents volunteered 379.2 million hours of service through
organizations statewide — creating an estimated $13.5 billion in economic impact.61
Many Californians are employed in cause-driven nonprofits, too. Among the 1.4 million Californians
working in nonprofit industries, 63% are women.62 These women have a median earning of $43,000
relative to $52,000 for men.63
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