Women by the Numbers
From the U.S.
Census Bureau
153.6 million
The
number of females in the United States as of Oct. 1, 2007. The number of
males is 149.4 million.
As of July 1, 2006, males outnumbered females
through age 41. Starting at 42, women outnumbered men. At 85 and older,
there were more than twice as many women as men.
Motherhood
82.8 million
Estimated number of mothers of all
ages in the United States.
1.9
Average number
of children that women 40 to 44 had given birth to as of 2004, down from 3.1
children in 1976, the year the Census Bureau began collecting such data.
Likewise, the percentage of women in this age group who were mothers was 81
percent in 2004, down from 90 percent in 1976.
Earnings
$32,649
The median annual earnings of women 16 or
older who worked year-round, full time, in 2006. Women earned 77 cents for
every $1 earned by men.
98 cents
The amount
women ($48,586) in the District of Columbia, who worked year-round, full
time, earned for every $1 their male counterparts earned ($49,544) in 2006.
Among all states or state equivalents, the district was where women were
closest to earnings parity with men. Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey
were the only states where median earnings for women were greater than
$40,000.
$61,081
Median earnings of women
working in computer and mathematical jobs, the highest for women among the
22 major occupational groups. In the community and social services group,
women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings were higher
than 90 percent.
Education
32
percent
Percent of women 25 to 29 who had attained a
bachelor’s degree or higher in 2006, which exceeded that of men in
this age range (25 percent). Eighty-eight percent of women and 84 percent of
men in this same age range had completed high school.
86
percent
Percent of women 25 and older who had completed high
school as of 2006. High school graduation rates for women continued to
exceed those of men (85 percent).
26.8
million
Number of women 25 and older with a bachelor’s
degree or more education in 2006, more than double the number 20 years
earlier.
27 percent
Percent of women 25 and
older who had obtained a bachelor’s degree or more as of 2006. This
rate was up 11 percentage points from 20 years earlier.
894,000
The projected number of bachelor’s
degrees that will be awarded to women in the 2007-08 school year, who are
also projected to earn 380,000 master’s degrees during this period.
Women would, therefore, earn 59 percent of the bachelor’s and 61
percent of the master’s degrees awarded during this school year. In
addition, women would earn a majority (52 percent) of first-professional
degrees, such as law and medical.
Businesses
More
than $939 billion
Revenue for women-owned businesses in
2002. There were 116,985 women-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or
more.
Nearly 6.5 million
The number of
women-owned businesses in 2002. Women owned 28 percent of all nonfarm
businesses.
More than 7.1 million
Number of
people employed by women-owned businesses. There were 7,231 women-owned
firms with 100 or more employees, generating $274 billion in gross
receipts.
Nearly one in three women-owned firms operated in health
care and social assistance, and other services, such as personal services,
and repair and maintenance. Women owned 72 percent of social assistance
businesses and just over half of nursing and residential care facilities.
Wholesale and retail trade accounted for 38.2 percent of women-owned
business revenue.
13 percent
Percentage of
women-owned firms in California. California had the most women-owned firms
at 870,496. New York was second with 505,077 or 8 percent of all firms.
Texas was third in number of firms with 468,705, accounting for 7 percent of
all firms.
Voting
65 percent
Percentage of female citizens 18 and older who reported voting in the 2004
presidential election. Sixty-two percent of their male counterparts cast a
ballot.
Jobs
59 percent
On average
in 2006, the percent of females 16 and older who participated in the labor
force, representing about 70.2 million women. More than 50 million women
worked full time. The participation rate for males in this age category was
74 percent.
37 percent
Percent of females 16
or older who work in management, professional and related occupations,
compared with 31 percent of males.
22 million
Number of female workers in educational services, health care and social
assistance industries. More women work in this industry group than in any
other. Within this industry group, 11 million work in the health care
industry and 8.4 million in educational services.
39
percent
In 2004, among women 20 to 64 who did not work for
four or more consecutive months, the percentage taking care of children or
others. This was the primary reason among such women for not working. By
comparison, 2 percent of corresponding men did not work for this
reason.
60 percent
Chances that your taxes will
be prepared by a woman, as this is the percentage of tax preparers who are
women. In addition, 77 percent of travel agents are women, so it is likely a
woman will help you plan your next
vacation.
84,000
Number of female police
officers. In addition, there are about 9,000 women firefighters, 315,000
lawyers, 278,000 physicians and surgeons, and 37,000 pilots.
Military
202,000
Total number of active
duty women in the military, as of Sept. 30, 2006. Of that total, 34,000
women were officers, and 168,000 were enlisted.
15
percent
Proportion of members of the armed forces who were
women, as of Sept. 30, 2006. In 1950, women comprised less than 2
percent.
1.7 million
The number of military
veterans who are women.
Marriage
62.4 million
Number of married women (including those who are separated
or have an absent spouse) in 2006. There were 59.8 million unmarried
(widowed, divorced or never married) women.
18
percent
Percentage of married couples in which the wife
earned at least $5,000 more than the husband in 2006. Among 22 percent of
married couples, the wife had more education than the husband.
5.6 million
Number of stay-at-home mothers
nationwide in 2006, up from 4.6 million a decade earlier.
Computers
84 percent
Proportion of women
with computers in the home in 2003 who made use of that computer, 2
percentage points higher than the corresponding proportion for men. This
reverses the computer use gender gap exhibited during the 1980s and 1990s.
The Spirit of Volunteerism
30 percent
Percentage of women who volunteer. The corresponding rate for men is 23
percent. Overall, 36 million women perform unpaid volunteer
activities.
Sports and Recreation
3
million
Number of girls who participated in high school
athletic programs in the 2005-06 school year. In the 1975-76 school year,
only 1.6 million girls were members of a high school athletic team.
168,583
Number of women who participated in an
NCAA sport in 2005-06.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
