The Women's Fund of Mississippi

As a statewide public foundation dedicated to using women's philanthropy to create social change, we recognize that policy change at the state level is one of our most effective strategies. This strategy is particularly powerful when it is maximized by a broad coalition of citizens who take the time to correspond with lawmakers. Experience shows us that lawmakers do indeed listen. You, too, can join this movement!

Statement on Governor Bryant's Plan to Prevent and Reduce Teen Pregnancy

(Click above for full text of statement)

Join the Mississippi Youth Advisory Council!

The Women’s Fund of Mississippi is searching for 10 Mississippi youth activists to be part of the Mississippi Youth Advisory Council (MS-YAC). The MS-YAC is composed of 10 dynamic high school and college students from around the state who support and promote comprehensive, responsible sex education.

Council members will be paid $100 for their work over the summer of 2012.

Over the summer members of the MS-YAC will provide feedback to the Women’s Fund as we develop a website with sexual health information for young people. You will not need to attend in-person meetings. We will communicate with you via email and a private Facebook group. We need your ideas and input as we work to create this website. The goal of this website is to provide information about teen pregnancy and STD/HIV prevention in a way that you will find useful and even fun to use, similar to www.carolinateenhealth.org.

Advisory Council Activities:

Review website designs and let the Women’s Fund staff know if you like something or don’t like something.
Review website content and let us know if it makes sense based on your life experiences.
Raise awareness among youth about the need for STI and pregnancy prevention efforts for themselves and other young people.

Application deadline is Thursday, April 19, 2012. The Council activities will primarily occur over the summer. Click here to download the application. Questions? Call Jamie at 601-326-0701 or jamie@womensfundms.org.

Looking for information about the December 8 Teen Pregnancy Prevention Summit in Jackson? Click here to download all presentations and related documents from this meeting.

New Report by the Women's Fund: Mississippi's High Teen Birth Rate Costs Taxpayers $155 Million a Year

Report offers solutions to reduce teen birth rate in Mississippi and also presents county-level cost data

The Women's Fund of Mississippi has released a new report (takes a minute to download) describing the economic costs of teen births for every county in Mississippi. These taxpayer costs, which were calculated for the Women's Fund of Mississippi by the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, can be attributed primarily to the lost tax revenue from lower wages among teen parents and their children, incarceration costs of sons of teen parents, and foster care costs.

The report makes clear that lower educational outcomes associated with teen mothers and their children limit the overall skill levels of the stat's workforce. Mississippi's economic health will be impacted until the teen birth rate declines.

The report also suggests a variety of ways that policymakers, teens, schools, and parents can help reduce the teen birth rate. These solutions include: "abstinence-plus" sex education in public schools that is evidence-based and medically accurate; access to school nurses and youth-friendly preventive health services; access to educational opportunities and youth employment; and helping parents succeed in their role as sex educators.

One of the goals of this report is to show that teen pregnancy impacts every person in every community. More importantly, Mississippi doesn't have to be the state with the highest teen birth rate. Key steps can be taken to reduce the teen birth rate in Mississippi. Now is the time for action.

UPDATE (October 13, 2011): Blueprint Mississippi has named reducing teen births as a top recommendation to cultivate a more robust workforce in Mississippi. From their report: "Decrease the economic and social costs associated with teenage births by lowering birthrates among females under 19 years old." Blueprint Mississippi is a partnership between the Mississippi Economic Council, Momentum Mississippi, and the Mississippi Partnership for Economic Development.

Op-Eds & News about Report:

"Pregnancy by Teens Has Big Costs," by The Cleveland Current (September 2011)
"Editorial: Teen Moms: Enormous Social Costs," by Clarion Ledger (September 2011)
"High Cost of Teen Pregnancy," radio interview with Jamie Holcomb of Women's Fund and Sarah Welker of Mississippi Economic Policy Center. Mississippi Edition of Mississippi Public Broadcasting (September 13, 2011)
"Editorial: Staggering Cost of Teen Births," The Commercial Appeal, (September 2011)
"Teen Births Cost Miss. $154M, Study Finds," CBS The Early Show, (September 2011)
"Study Puts Cost of Teen Births at $154.9M: Proponents of Sex Ed Classes Cite Economic Impact," The Commercial Appeal, (September 2011)
"Teen Births Cost Millions to Miss. Taxpayers, Study Shows," The Christian Post, (September 2011)
"Business Blog: Teen Pregnancies Cost Miss. $154 Mill a Year," Mississippi Business Journal (September 2011)
"Teen Pregnancy Costs State Nearly $155 Million in a Year," Jezebel (national blog) (September 2011)
"Study: Teen Births Cost Miss. $154.9 Million in '09," Associated Press (September 2011)
"Teen Births Cost Mississippi $155 Million Every Year," interview with Mississippi First (a grantee) and Women's Fund staff. Mississippi Public Broadcasting (September 2011)
"Teen Moms Costly to State," by Clarion Ledger (September 2011)
"Opinion Editorial: Sex Ed Should be Medically Accurate," by Board Member Katie McClendon, PharmD, Dr. Cris Glick, Dr. Aaron Shirley, and Dr. Helen Barnes The Clarion Ledger (August 2011)

Mississippians for Fair Lending

The Women's Fund is committed to raising public awareness about the devastating impact payday lending has on Mississippians. We are working in partnership with other organizations—the Mississippi Center for Justice, the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, the Center for Responsible Lending, to name a few—to address this issue at the local and state level. This coalition, Mississippians for Fair Lending, is committed to bringing about policy changes at the state level that would cap the interest rate for payday loans at 36%.

Women's Fund Fact Sheet on Payday Lending in Mississippi

Cost of Bad Lending in Mississippi

Payday Lending in Mississippi Issue Brief

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