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Women's History Month: March 2013

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.

158.3 million

The number of females in the United States in 2011. The number of males was 153.3 million.
Source: Population Estimates: 2011, Table NC_EST2011_01
<http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html>

At 65 and older, there were 13.3 percent more women than men in 2011. Source: Population Estimates: 2011, Table NC_EST2011_01
<http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html>

Jobs

57.7%

Percentage of females 16 and older who participated in the labor force, representing about 72.6 million women in 2012.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table A-2
<http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm>

41.7%

Percent of employed females 16 and older who worked in management, professional and related occupations, compared with 35.1 percent of employed males in December 2012.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table A-19
<http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm>

Military

204,973

Total number of active duty women in the military, as of Nov. 30, 2012. Of that total, 38,378 women were officers, and 164,021 were enlisted.
Source: U.S. Department of Defense, Selected Manual Statistics, annual, and unpublished data.

Earnings

$37,118

The median annual earnings of women 15 or older who worked year-round, full time in 2011. In comparison, the median annual earnings of men were $48,202.
Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011, Page 7 & 11.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf>

0.77

The female-to-male earnings ratio in 2011. The number of men and women with earnings who worked year-round in 2011 was not statistically different from the ratio in 2010.
Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011, Page 12.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf>

Education

31.4 million

Number of women 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or more in 2011, higher than the corresponding number for men (30 million). Women had a larger share of high school diplomas (including equivalents), as well as associate, bachelor's and master's degrees. More men than women had a professional or doctoral degree.
Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011, Table 3
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2011/tables.html>

30.1%

Percent of women 25 and older who had obtained a bachelor's degree or more as of 2011.
Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011, Table 3
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2011/tables.html>

11.3 million

Number of college students in fall 2011 who were women age 15 and older.
Source: School Enrollment in the United States: 2011, Table 5
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/school/data/cps/2011/tables.html>

Businesses

$1.2 trillion

Revenue for women-owned businesses in 2007.
Source: 2007 Survey of Business Owners
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SBO/2007/00CSA01>

7.8 million

The number of women-owned businesses in 2007.
Source: 2007 Survey of Business Owners
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SBO/2007/00CSA01>

7.5 million

Number of people employed by women-owned businesses in 2007.

Nearly half of all women-owned businesses (45.9 percent) operated in repair and maintenance; personal and laundry services; health care and social assistance; and professional, scientific and technical services. Women-owned businesses accounted for 52.0 percent of all businesses operating in the health care and social assistance sector. Source: 2007 Survey of Business Owners
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SBO/2007/00CSA01>

4

Number of states with at least 500,000 women-owned businesses in 2007 was California, Texas, New York and Florida. California had 1,039,208 women-owned businesses or 13.3 percent of all women-owned businesses in the United States, Texas had 609,947 or 7.8 percent, New York had 594,517 or 7.6 percent, and Florida had 581,096, or 7.5 percent.
Source: 2007 Survey of Business Owners
<http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SBO/2007/00CSA01>

Voting

46.2%

Percentage of female citizens 18 and older who reported voting in the 2010 congressional election. 44.8 percent of their male counterparts cast a ballot. Additionally, 66.6 percent of female citizens reported being registered to vote.
Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2010, Table 1
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2010/tables.html>

Motherhood

85.4 million

Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2009.
Source: Unpublished data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 1.9

Average number of children that women 40 to 44 had given birth to as of 2010, down from 3.1 children in 1976, the year the Census Bureau began collecting such data.
Source: Fertility of American Women: 2010 table 2 and Historical table 2
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/fertility/data/cps/>

The percentage of women in this age group who had given birth was 81 percent in 2010, down from 90 percent in 1976.
Source: Fertility of American Women: 2010 table 1 and Historical table 2
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/fertility/data/cps/>

Marriage

64.9 million

Number of married women 18 and older (including those who were separated or had an absent spouse) in 2011.
Source: Families and Living Arrangements: 2011, Table A1
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html>

5.1 million

Number of stay-at-home mothers nationwide in 2012.

Source: Families and Living Arrangements: 2012, Table FG8
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/families>

Editor’s note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail: <PIO@census.gov>.