WCC Releases 2025 State of NYC Women Report
Urging Structural Investment in Gender Equity
NEW YORK, N.Y. - March 5, 2026 - Women Creating Change (WCC) today released its State of NYC Women 2025 Report, showing how fragmented public systems and inconsistent investment reinforce gender inequities across New York City, from maternal health and youth mental health to economic stability, childcare access, and digital safety.
The report finds that maternal health disparities, rising youth mental health needs, and increasing digital harms disproportionately affect women and gender-expansive New Yorkers. These challenges are compounded by gender-based violence, economic insecurity, unaffordable childcare, unpaid care work, fragmented safety systems, and exclusion from civic decision-making.
Progress in one area cannot offset inequity in another. Health, safety, economic stability, and civic power are interconnected, and leadership is key. When women, especially women of color, immigrant women, young women, and survivors, hold decision-making roles, policies become more responsive, prevention-focused, and grounded in lived experience. Eighty-seven percent of youth surveyed reported that adults do not meaningfully involve them in civic decision-making, despite strong interest in engagement. The findings are based on key presentations, in-depth panel discussions, live polling, and established research presented at WCC’s State of NYC Women Conference. A recording of the full conference is available to stream on YouTube.
Key Findings
The report identifies several urgent challenges:
- Women remain underrepresented in decision-making roles across sectors.
- Women-led and community-rooted organizations face short-term funding cycles that limit long-term planning and systemic impact.
- Unaffordable childcare and unpaid care work reduce economic mobility and civic participation.
- Emerging technologies, including AI systems, risk reproducing bias in housing, credit, employment, and healthcare when marginalized communities are excluded from design and oversight.
“When we step into leadership roles, whether in the boardroom, the classroom, or the community, we help shape systems that shape people's lives.” Sabrina Stratton, Sr VP & Northeast Regional Director, Amalgamated Bank
Sustained Structural Investment
The conference and report highlight the need for sustained structural investment in women-led initiatives and care infrastructure. This includes universal access to healthcare and childcare, long-term support for community-rooted organizations, mentorship and leadership pipelines, and multi-year funding to allow planning that addresses systemic inequities. Equity also depends on modernizing funding and technology systems: ensuring women and marginalized communities are included in the design and oversight of emerging technologies, implementing gender-responsive budgeting, and protecting digital civil rights.
Collectively, these recommendations form a roadmap for embedding lived experience into policymaking, strengthening accountability across institutions, and redistributing power so women have meaningful decision-making roles across government, philanthropy, business, and civic sectors.
A Roadmap for Policymakers and Advocates
The State of NYC Women 2025 Report is designed as an actionable tool for policymakers, advocates, philanthropic leaders, and community organizations. It includes recaps and analysis from 12 conference sessions, live polling data from attendees, policy recommendations for city and state leaders, and practical action steps for cross-sector collaboration.
“Your presence is a testament to the power of collective action… Our mission has remained consistent: to equip and empower women to shape the policies and systems that affect their lives.” - Sharon Sewell-Fairman, President & CEO, Women Creating Change
This report emphasizes that achieving gender equity requires coordinated policy innovation, cross-sector accountability, and long-term investment grounded in both data and lived experience. New York City has the opportunity to lead nationally by building systems that prioritize safety, economic stability, civic inclusion, and digital protection for women and gender-expansive people. Ensuring women have meaningful decision-making power across government, philanthropy, business, and technology requires structural change beyond incremental reform.
Read the full State of NYC Women 2025 Report.
About
Women Creating Change (WCC), formerly known as the Women’s City Club of New York, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan activist organization dedicated to advancing women’s rights and shaping the future of New York City. Founded in 1915, WCC works to advance gender and racial equality by equipping women of color, women experiencing financial hardship, and gender-expansive individuals, with the knowledge, tools, and resources to advocate for the issues that matter most to them. WCC collaborates with partners, policymakers, and advocacy groups to drive real change in economic opportunity, education, healthcare, safety, reproductive justice, and environmental justice. WCC connects women with key stakeholders to learn, act, and engage. We empower women to lead change, shape policy, and strengthen communities, redesigning systems for a more equitable New York City. At WCC, we believe every woman has the power to make a difference. Visit wccny.org.
Media Contact
For interview requests or media inquiries, please contact Lynsey Billet at [email protected] or 347-361-8449.