Census Facts for Women’s History Month
By the U.S. Census Bureau
In 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing
National Women’s History Week. The week was chosen to coincide with
International Women’s Day, March 8. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a
month. Every year since, Congress has passed a resolution for Women’s History
Month, and the U.S. president has issued a proclamation.
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147.8 million
The
number of females [PDF] in the United States as of July 1, 2003. That
exceeds the number of males (143.0 million). Males outnumber females in every
five-year-age group through the 35 to 39 age group. Starting with the 40 to 44
age group, women outnumber men. At 85 and over, there are more than twice as
many women as men.
Earnings
$30,724
The median annual earnings of women ages 15 and older who work full time,
year-round. After adjusting for inflation, earnings for these women declined by
0.6 percent between 2002 and 2003 — their first annual decline since 1995.
Military
215,243
Total number of
active duty [PDF] women in the military, compared to 1,219,134 men, in 2003.
Of that total, 34,796 women are officers, 178,428 are enlisted and 2,019 are
enrolled in military academies.
1.7 million
The number of
military
veterans who are women.
16%
Percent of
Persian
Gulf War (1990-91) veterans who are women. In contrast, women account for 5
percent of World War II vets, 3 percent of Vietnam vets and 2 percent of Korean
War vets.
$2.9 million
Estimated work-life earnings of women with a professional degree (i.e.,
medical, law, dental or veterinarian) who work full time, year-round. For women,
like men, more education means higher career earnings. It is estimated that
women without a high school diploma would earn $700,000 during their work lives,
increasing to $1 million if they had a high school diploma and $1.6 million if
they had a bachelor’s degree.
Sports & Recreation
2.9 million
Number of females who participated in
high
school athletic programs (Table 1243) in the 2002-03 school year. In the
1972-73 school year, only 800,000 females were members of a high school athletic
team.
76 cents
The amount women, who
worked full time, year-round, earned for every $1 their male counterparts
earned. This amount is down from 77 cents for every dollar in 2002.
Education
31%
Percent of women ages 25 to 29 years who had attained a
bachelor’s degree or higher in 2003, which exceeded that of men in this age
range (26 percent). Eighty-eight percent of young women and 85 percent of young
men had completed high school. The last year young women and men had equal rates
of high school and college attainment was 1995.
Motherhood
82.5
million
Estimated number of mothers of all ages in the United States. (From unpublished
dated.)
44%
Percent of all
women of childbearing age (15 to 44 years old) who are childless.
Seventy-one percent of these childless women participated in the labor force.
26%
Percent of women who have obtained a bachelor’s degree. This rate has increased
nearly 7 percentage points in the past decade.
774,000
The
projected number of bachelor’s degrees that will be awarded to women in the
2004-05 school year; women also are projected to earn
293,000
master’s degrees in the 2004-05 school year. Women would, therefore, earn 57
percent of the bachelor’s and 58 percent of the master’s degrees awarded during
this school year. (These two percentages are not significantly different from
one another.)
85%
Percent of women age 25 and over who have
completed high school. For the second year in a row, women have had a higher
rate of high school completion than men (84 percent).
Jobs
60%
Percent of women 16 and over who
participated in the workforce in 2003. Men in this age range had a
participation rate of 74 percent.
34%
Percent of women 16 and over who work in
professional specialty or executive, administrative and managerial jobs,
compared with 30 percent of men.
20.3 million
Number of female
workers in education, health and social services industries. More women work
in this industry group than in any other.
Marriage
62.9 million
Number of married women (including those who are separated or have an absent
spouse). There are 53.5 million unmarried (widowed, divorced or never married)
women.
29%
Percent of
women in unmarried-partner households who have higher levels of education
than their partners; by comparison, 22 percent of married women have higher
levels of education than their husbands. Women in unmarried-partner households
are also more likely than married women to earn more than their partners.
Twenty-three percent of women in unmarried-partner households earn at least
$5,000 more than their partners, compared with 17 percent of married women.
54%
Percent of
unmarried and single Americans who are women.
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