March is for women

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 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.

FEMALE FACTS (according to information published by the U.S. Census Bureau)
• 155.8 million: The number of females in the United States as of Oct. 1, 2009. The number of males was 151.8 million. At 85 and older, there were more than twice as many women as men.

• 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 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 had given birth was 80% in 2006, down from 90% in 1976.

• $35,745: The median annual earnings of women 15 or older who worked year-round, full time, in 2008, down from $36,451 in 2007 (after adjusting for inflation). Women earned 77 cents for every $1 earned by men.

• 29.4 million: Number of women 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more education in 2008, higher than the corresponding number for men (28.4 million). Women had a larger share of high school diplomas, as well as associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. More men than women had a professional or doctoral degree.

• 55%: Percentage of college students in fall 2008 who were women.

• 66%: Percentage of female citizens 18 and older who reported voting in the 2008 Presidential election. Sixty-two percent of their male counterparts cast a ballot. Additionally, 73% of female citizens reported being registered to vote.

• 59%: In 2008, the percentage of females 16 and older who participated in the labor force, representing about 72 million women.

• 23.8 million: Number of female workers in educational services, health care and social assistance industries. More women worked in this industry group than in any other. Within this industry group, 11.9 million worked in the health care industry, 9.1 million in educational services and 2.7 million worked in the social assistance industry.

• 99,000: Number of female police officers across the country in 2008. In addition, there were about 14,000 women firefighters, 349,000 lawyers, 267,000 physicians and surgeons, and 36,000 pilots. (Note: Number of pilots pertains to 2007.)

• 197,900: Total number of active duty women in the military, as of Sept. 30, 2008. Of that total, 34,300 women were officers, and 163,600 were enlisted.

• 14%: Proportion of members of the armed forces who were women, as of Sept. 30, 2008.

• 18%: Percentage of married couples in which the wife earned at least $5,000 more than the husband in 2008.

• 3.1 million: Number of girls who participated in high school athletic programs in the 2007-08 school year. In the 1979-80 school year, only 1.75 million girls were members of a high school athletic team.