By Sadaf Knight, Kristina Richardi and Doug Howgate

Executive Summary

State programs in higher education, employment training and child care enable residents to attain and keep quality jobs. While these programs are open to all, in each area women make up a substantial majority of those using these programs and services to improve their economic standing and support their families. This report examines state support of higher education, employment training and childcare – describing how these programs work, why they are important to the participation of women in the workforce, and the strains on both the programs and participants brought about by the economic crisis.

The budget cuts that have accompanied the current recession have had a substantial impact on child care, adult and postsecondary education and employment training programs. Federal recovery act funds have helped the state to limit some of these cuts, but if recovery funds are not renewed in FY 2011 further program cuts appear likely.

While the current recession has had a negative impact in each of these program areas, the report notes that diminished state support began long before 2009. In higher education, current funding levels fall 22 percent below state funding at the beginning of the decade when adjusted for inflation, while child care support has been cut 18 percent over that same time period.

• Each of the policy areas covered in this report continue to be a vital resource for women looking to improve career opportunities and support their families, in spite of the effects of reduced state funding. Due to funding constraints, the state has frozen access to state subsidized child care; still, thousands of children receive these subsidies each month (although another 20,000 eligible children are on a waiting list awaiting state support);
• Women make up more than 60 percent of graduates of state public colleges and universities and more than 60 percent of attendees of adult basic education courses. Both of these programs help to provide education and training that translate to improved wages and employment. In FY 2010, the state has used more than $200 million in federal recovery funds to ensure that state colleges continue to receive the same level of funding they had in FY 2009; and
• Approximately 7,000 women each year participate in the state’s Employment Services Program which provides training and other services to help low-income women transition off of public assistance.¹ Women make up more than 90 percent of the participants in ESP.

Each of these areas provides clear benefits in terms of wage, employment or family support for women in Massachusetts. As the state continues to face difficult budget decisions it is important to keep in mind how programs across a wide spectrum of policy areas work together to provide economic opportunities to large segments of the population.

1. Figure from Department of Transitional Assistance. November 20, 2009.