EDUCATION
FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS IN ATLANTA
The State of Education in Metro Atlanta
Education is the clearest throughline between a girl's early years and a woman's lifetime earning power. In metro Atlanta, access to that pathway is not evenly distributed. Degree attainment, school quality, workforce readiness, and the support systems that help girls and women complete credentials vary sharply by county, income, and race. The Atlanta Women’s Foundation (AWF) advances research-driven, evidence-based solutions that identify where barriers are most significant and inform strategic investments that expand educational opportunity for women and girls across Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties.
Our role is to serve as an educator, funder, and connector on the critical issue of educational equity. As Atlanta’s only public foundation dedicated exclusively to women and girls, AWF plays a catalytic role: translating local research into strategic investment and mobilizing resources to drive measurable, systems-level change.
In 2025, AWF commissioned an independent research firm to assess the conditions shaping the well-being of women and youth across all five counties we serve. Educational attainment emerged as both a protective factor and a fault line.
The findings are clear: education determines whether women and girls can access stable wages, secure housing, and long-term economic mobility, and our research helps us understand where barriers to that access are most significant so that investment can follow.
Education Is Economic Infrastructure
Educational attainment is the single strongest predictor of a woman’s long-term earnings, job stability, and ability to care for her family.
Across the five-county region:
The average hourly wage in the Atlanta metro area is $33.73, yet women are concentrated in essential but low-wage sectors earning $15.38 per hour in food preparation and $16.88 per hour in personal care and service occupations.
Median household income varies across the region, from roughly $60,000 in some counties to more than $100,000 in others.
Average weekly earnings of $1,241 are often insufficient to cover housing, childcare, and healthcare, a gap that widens sharply for women without a postsecondary credential.
Wage gaps tied to educational attainment are pronounced across the region. Among adults with less than a high school education, men earn a median of $40,525 compared to $36,224 for women. At the high school level, men earn $40,524 while women earn $33,908. Lower educational attainment limits access to higher-wage occupations, deepens financial stress, and constrains mobility across generations, pressures that are more pronounced in some communities than others.
The findings make clear: economic security is foundational to mental well-being.
Attainment Disparities Follow Geographic and Gender Lines
Women consistently outperform men in educational attainment across metro Atlanta, yet regional disparities mean that where a girl grows up shapes her access to higher education.
High school completion rates vary across the region:
In Fulton County:
In Cobb County:
In Clayton County:
Bachelor’s degree attainment or higher shows even sharper regional disparities:
In Fulton County:
In Cobb County:
In Clayton County:
The research highlights that some communities face particularly significant barriers to postsecondary attainment and may have fewer nonprofit resources available to address these barriers. These findings help inform AWF’s efforts to ensure underserved areas are included in our grantmaking whenever possible.
AWF uses research to identify communities facing significant barriers to educational attainment and seeks to invest in nonprofit organizations that expand academic support, postsecondary access, and credential completion across all five counties. In some areas, particularly where fewer organizations are available to serve women and girls, AWF works intentionally to ensure those communities are represented whenever possible.
Girls Outperform in School Yet Face Distinct Pressures
Girls in metro Atlanta graduate high school at higher rates than boys in every county studied. That progress is real, but it’s not the whole story. Girls also report significantly higher levels of emotional distress that shape engagement, attendance, and completion.
National CDC data show 57 percent of female high school students report persistent sadness, compared to 29 percent of male students. In Georgia, that figure rises to 60 percent, with roughly one in four high school girls reporting they have made a suicide plan.
Grantee providers identify school-related stress as a top driver of youth mental health concerns:
- 57 percent cite academic pressure and bullying as primary youth stressors.
- Nearly half identify the lack of afterschool and extracurricular programs with mental health supports as a critical gap.
- School-based counseling often fails to provide safe, trusted environments or is under-resourced to the point of being functionally unavailable.
Girls describe concealing their struggles to avoid burdening caregivers already carrying financial pressure, housing instability, or other family responsibilities. As one focus group participant shared, "We keep our problems to ourselves. Our parents have enough to worry about." This silence often means that emotional distress goes unseen until it reaches a crisis point. Academic pressure intensifies in high-achieving districts as well, where girls may appear successful on paper while quietly struggling with anxiety, depression, or overwhelming expectations.
Youth also described the constant pressure of maintaining an online identity. Social media amplified comparison, fear of judgment, and unrealistic expectations, leaving many girls feeling that they had to project strength even when they were struggling. Research increasingly shows that these pressures can contribute to anxiety, depression, and self-harm, particularly among adolescent girls.
Strong educational outcomes for girls require more than rigorous coursework. They require schools and community partners equipped to address the emotional, economic, and social conditions that determine whether a girl can stay engaged, stay enrolled, and complete the credentials that unlock her future.
Childcare Costs Keep Women from Finishing Credentials
For adult women pursuing a degree, a certificate, or a workforce credential, childcare is often the deciding factor between completion and attrition.
Across the five-county region:
Families spend roughly
21 to 36%
of their income on childcare for two children, with the heaviest cost burdens falling on lower-income households.
of AWF grantees report that mothers need childcare or time to rest as a top unmet need.
92 percent of behavioral health providers surveyed identified high childcare costs as a direct driver of stress on women and caregivers.
An additional barrier is the benefit cliff. Women and caregivers must stay below a specific income threshold to continue receiving benefits such as childcare assistance, housing vouchers, and food assistance. Accepting slightly higher wages — or enrolling in education or training that promises higher wages — can result in the loss of benefits that exceeds the additional income. Subject matter experts describe this as a “hidden tax on ambition” that penalizes the exact behaviors education is designed to reward.
AWF advocates for expanded childcare infrastructure, subsidized care for women in education and job training, and policies that align benefit structures with the realities of women’s upward mobility.
Girls Outperform in School Yet Face Distinct Pressures
Girls in metro Atlanta graduate high school at higher rates than boys in every county studied. That progress is real, but it’s not the whole story. Girls also report significantly higher levels of emotional distress that shape engagement, attendance, and completion.
National CDC data show 57 percent of female high school students report persistent sadness, compared to 29 percent of male students. In Georgia, that figure rises to 60 percent, with roughly one in four high school girls reporting they have made a suicide plan.
Grantee providers identify school-related stress as a top driver of youth mental health concerns:
- 57 percent cite academic pressure and bullying as primary youth stressors.
- Nearly half identify the lack of afterschool and extracurricular programs with mental health supports as a critical gap.
- School-based counseling often fails to provide safe, trusted environments or is under-resourced to the point of being functionally unavailable.
Girls describe concealing their struggles to avoid burdening caregivers already carrying financial pressure, housing instability, or other family responsibilities. As one focus group participant shared, "We keep our problems to ourselves. Our parents have enough to worry about." This silence often means that emotional distress goes unseen until it reaches a crisis point. Academic pressure intensifies in high-achieving districts as well, where girls may appear successful on paper while quietly struggling with anxiety, depression, or overwhelming expectations.
Youth also described the constant pressure of maintaining an online identity. Social media amplified comparison, fear of judgment, and unrealistic expectations, leaving many girls feeling that they had to project strength even when they were struggling. Research increasingly shows that these pressures can contribute to anxiety, depression, and self-harm, particularly among adolescent girls.
Strong educational outcomes for girls require more than rigorous coursework. They require schools and community partners equipped to address the emotional, economic, and social conditions that determine whether a girl can stay engaged, stay enrolled, and complete the credentials that unlock her future.
Childcare Costs Keep Women from Finishing Credentials
For adult women pursuing a degree, a certificate, or a workforce credential, childcare is often the deciding factor between completion and attrition.
Across the five-county region:
Families spend roughly
21 to 36%
of their income on childcare for two children, with the heaviest cost burdens falling on lower-income households.
of AWF grantees report that mothers need childcare or time to rest as a top unmet need.
92 percent of behavioral health providers surveyed identified high childcare costs as a direct driver of stress on women and caregivers.
An additional barrier is the benefit cliff. Women and caregivers must stay below a specific income threshold to continue receiving benefits such as childcare assistance, housing vouchers, and food assistance. Accepting slightly higher wages — or enrolling in education or training that promises higher wages — can result in the loss of benefits that exceeds the additional income. Subject matter experts describe this as a “hidden tax on ambition” that penalizes the exact behaviors education is designed to reward.
AWF advocates for expanded childcare infrastructure, subsidized care for women in education and job training, and policies that align benefit structures with the realities of women’s upward mobility.
Youth Disconnection Is a Pipeline Warning
Children and youth under 18 make up roughly 21 to 27 percent of the population across metro Atlanta’s five counties. The trajectory of these young people, especially girls, is one of the clearest indicators of the region’s long-term economic and civic strength.
Yet a meaningful share of the region’s young people are already disconnected from both education and work: 6 to 7 percent of youth ages 16 to 19 across metro Atlanta are neither working nor in school, with rates varying meaningfully across communities; in some areas, including Clayton County, the rate is roughly 11 percent.
Disconnection correlates with higher mental health risk, lower lifetime earnings, and reduced likelihood of completing postsecondary education.
Young women who disengage from school during adolescence face compounding pressures in early adulthood: employment instability, income insecurity, family caretaking responsibilities, and limited access to culturally competent support. The earlier the intervention, the greater the return.
Investing in youth engagement — school-based supports, mentorship, career pathways, and culturally grounded programming — is one of the highest-leverage investments a funder can make in a region’s long-term mobility.
Two-Generation Models Strengthen Educational Outcomes
Research consistently shows that a child’s educational trajectory is tied to the well-being and stability of their caregiver. When mothers thrive, children’s school readiness, emotional regulation, and academic performance improve alongside them.
The AWF service area has a distinctly multigenerational caregiving landscape:
83,857
GRANDPARENTS LIVE
WITH GRANDCHILDREN
30-40%
SERVE AS PRIMARY
CAREGIVERS
66-74%
OF THOSE CAREGIVERS
ARE WOMEN
In many immigrant and low-income households, youth themselves take on adult responsibilities (translating, navigating systems, and managing siblings) at the cost of their own schoolwork.
Two-generation (2Gen) and three-generation (3Gen) approaches recognize that educational outcomes for children improve when caregivers have access to stability, mental health support, and their own pathways to higher earnings. These models are particularly effective in metro Atlanta, where family structures are rarely confined to a single generation.
AWF funds organizations that build academic success for girls alongside economic stability for their mothers and caregivers, recognizing that educational equity is a family-scale outcome rather than an individual one.
AWF’s Approach: From Research to Systems Change
As a philanthropic leader, the Atlanta Women’s Foundation directs funding toward evidence-informed solutions that expand educational opportunity, close credential gaps, and address the structural drivers of educational inequity.
When women and girls have access to quality education, families grow stronger and communities grow more economically resilient. Through research, investment, and partnership, the Atlanta Women’s Foundation is committed to turning insight into lasting change across metro Atlanta.
Closing educational gaps requires coordinated investment, data-informed strategies, and partnerships across sectors. Here’s an inside look at our process:
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
AWF gathers and analyzes local data to identify root causes of educational inequity, track disparities in attainment and access, and surface the emerging needs of women and girls across metro Atlanta. Research informs every stage of decision-making, ensuring investments are responsive and evidence-based.
STRATEGIC INVESTMENT
STRATEGIC INVESTMENT
Funding decisions are guided by research findings and focused on organizations that demonstrate measurable outcomes in:
- Academic support and persistence for girls
- Postsecondary access and credential completion
- Workforce readiness and career pathways
- Two-generation education models that serve mothers and children together
AWF works to ensure all five counties we serve are represented in grantmaking whenever possible, recognizing that in some communities fewer nonprofit organizations are available to reach women and girls. AWF also invests in nonprofit capacity, recognizing that strong organizations are essential to sustainable impact.
SYSTEMS CHANGE
SYSTEMS CHANGE
By aligning research, funding, and partnerships, AWF works to influence the systems that determine educational outcomes. This includes supporting policy-adjacent work, cross-sector collaboration, and long-term alignment between education and the workforce. Our investments prioritize solutions that strengthen the full education-to-mobility pipeline.
Leadership Perspective
Atlanta Women’s Foundation leadership reflects on what these findings mean for the future of mental health and well-being in metro Atlanta.
“Education is the most reliable predictor of a woman's lifetime earnings, stability, and the choices she can make for her family. The 2025 research makes one truth unmistakable: in metro Atlanta, that pathway is not equally available. Where a girl grows up still determines whether she completes a credential, enters a higher-wage role, and shifts the trajectory of the generations to come. Our role at the Atlanta Women's Foundation is to turn that data into coordinated investment that closes the geographic and structural gaps holding women and girls back from full economic mobility.”
Kari B. Love, Chief Executive Officer, Atlanta Women’s Foundation
“What we hear consistently from girls and young women across metro Atlanta is that the barriers to staying engaged in school rarely live inside the classroom. They live in childcare costs, caregiving responsibilities, the pressure to hide struggles from parents already stretched thin, and school environments that don’t always feel safe to ask for help. For women returning to complete a credential, those obstacles compound through the benefit cliff, schedule unpredictability, and limited childcare access. Our research helps illuminate those realities so we can invest in solutions that recognize education as a family-scale outcome.”
DiShonda Hughes, Chief Mission Officer
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