The Commission on the Status of Women is launching a movement to build women's economic power in San Mateo County. This effort started in 2022 with a work plan on financial resiliency, assessing the impact of COVID-19 on women's employment, remote work, childcare, and wages. In 2023, the Commission focused on the wealth gap and the impact of childcare and caregiving on women and families as the top two issues that drive inequity and affect lifelong well-being. In March 2024, the Commission hosted the RISE Women's Conference in order to engage in feedback about the drivers for the two issues. After two years of work, the Commission created the Fund the Future report for the County of San Mateo. Our goals with these resources and report are 1) to empower our community with information and tools and 2) to equip leaders with recommendations that drive systemic changes to expand safety nets and build more equitable systems. 

 

Fund the Future: A Call for Durable & Coordinated Investment in Child Care & Women’s Economic Health in San Mateo County 

Executive Summary

Fund the Future Final Report

Presentation (pending)

 

Appendices

RISE 2024 Women's Leadership Conference Materials

Child Care Impact Research and Survey Findings

Wealth Health Research and Survey Findings

Definitions

Acknowledgements

 

Women's Wealth Health

The Women's Wealth Health Committee seeks to identify how women in the county are falling behind in building and sustaining financial wealth to insure their economic stability. With their specific survey and interviews with executive leaders in the corporate and nonprofit fields, the goal is to identity the top drivers of this financial wealth gap. 

Child-Care Impact

The Child-Care and Early Childhood Education Committee is committed to helping increase access to child-care in San Mateo County. The information shared from their survey and interviews with childcare staff, small business owners and parents will inform a report to the Board of Supervisors in support of funding for child-care access and other aspects of caregiving that impact the economic security of women in San Mateo County. 

Please contact Tanya Beat at tbeat@smcgov.org with questions or requests for additional information.