Remarks of Judy Baker As Prepared for Delivery Womens Policy Alliance MO State Capitol March 7, 2012 Good morning.

I am pleased to have been a part of the early development of this effort and applaud the ongoing efforts of the Womens Policy Alliance. Your current and future contributions to the well-being of women in Missouri are exciting. And now with the help of your product, the Missouri Womens Report, they will even be able to be measured. These are the baselines that now can be used to see how we are doing and where we going. Let us, this day, remember that behind every one of these statistics and numbers there are real women, real people. These are not just numbers on a page. In these numbers there is a single mom who decided to keep a baby and now faces serious challenges of having to work to support her child while also caring every day and night for the child she loves. In these numbers there is a widow trying to stay in her home and age gracefully in the place she loves, and in

these numbers there is a farmers wife who just found out she has breast cancer at the health center but no insurance to pay for the treatment. My hope is that policy makers will use this toolto learn the stories these numbers telland to challenge themselves to help us do better and to be able to measure the impact of their decisions as policymakers. Lets challenge ourselves to come back in five years and boast of improved status for the women of Missouri. Lets do what we can to close the gender gap by Committing to promoting social and economic equity with men in MO Using this report to target the areas of most concern first and Reminding policy makers that by investing in women they will benefit all Missourians, strengthen MO families, improve the quality of our communities, and grow our economy. For starters, we know access to primary and preventive health including reproductive health will help women reach their fullest potential in all aspects of their lives and will improve the overall health of Missouri families for generations to come.

While poverty is a complex issue and most people agree less people living in poverty is good for everyone, in Missouri women are more likely than men to live in poverty. In fact 36% of Missouri women live in poverty compared to 31% of men. We must use this information to remind ourselves and our policymakers of that single mom, that widow and those women living in poverty. We must keep these Missourians lives in our hearts and minds as we approach policy makers and build the best Missouri we can with the best opportunity for all, men, women, and children. Thank you again for creating this vital tool. Best of luck to you all as you work to bring about change. ###