Facts for Feature from the Census Bureau

Women's History Month: March 2009 [5 January 2009] http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features... or http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/pdf/cb09ff-03.pdf [full-text, 7 pages]

National Women's History Month's roots go back to March 8, 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women's Day was first observed in 1909, but it wasn't until 1981 that Congress established National Women's History Week to be commemorated the second week of March. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month. Every year since, Congress has passed a resolution for Women's History Month, and the president has issued a proclamation.

154.7 million The number of females in the United States as of Oct. 1, 2008. The number of males was 150.6 million. Source: Population estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2007-nat-res.html

At 85 and older, there were more than twice as many women as men. Source: Population estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2007-sa.html

Motherhood

82.8 million Estimated number of mothers of all ages in the United States. Source: Unpublished data from Survey of Income and Program Participation

1.9 Average number of children that women 40 to 44 had given birth to as of 2006, down from 3.1 children in 1976, the year the Census Bureau began collecting such data. The percentage of women in this age group who were mothers was 80 percent in 2006, down from 90 percent in 1976. Source: Fertility of American Women: 2006 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/012510....

Earnings

$34,278 The median annual earnings of women 16 or older who worked year-round, full time, in 2007, up from $33,648 in 2006 (after adjusting for inflation). Women earned 77.5 cents for every $1 earned by men. Source: 2007 American Community Survey http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/0125...

$49,364 Median earnings of women in 2007 in the District of Columbia, a total not statistically different from the men. In all of the 50 states, women had lower earnings than the men. The District of Columbia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey were the only states or equivalents where median earnings for women were greater than $40,000. Source: 2007 American Community Survey http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/0125...

$61,957 Median earnings of women working in computer and mathematical jobs, the highest among the 26 major occupational groups. In the installation, maintenance and repair occupations and community and social services group, women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings were higher than 90 percent. Source: 2007 American Community Survey http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/0125...

Education

33% Percent of women 25 to 29 who had attained a bachelor's degree or higher in 2007, which exceeded that of men in this age range (26 percent). Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2007 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/011196.h...

28.2 million Number of women 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or more education in 2007, more than double the number 20 years earlier. Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2007 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/011196.h...

28% Percent of women 25 and older who had obtained a bachelor's degree or more as of 2007. This rate was up 11 percentage points from 20 years earlier. Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2007 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/011196.h...

928,000 The projected number of bachelor's degrees that will be awarded to women in the 2008-09 school year. Women are also projected to earn 391,000 master's degrees during this period. Women would, therefore, earn 58 percent of the bachelor's and 60 percent of the master's degrees awarded during this school year. In addition, women would earn nearly 50 percent of first-professional degrees, such as law and medical. Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics to 2017 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008078

AND MORE....

**************************************** Stuart Basefsky Director, IWS News Bureau Institute for Workplace Studies Cornell/ILR School 16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10016

Telephone: (607) 255-2703 Fax: (607) 255-9641 E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu ****************************************