MARCH 2012 Celebrating National Women's History Month

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Currents. Discussion »

WASHINGTON – March is National Women's History Month. It is a month to celebrate the contributions women have made to better tribal nations, communities and humankind.

The Native News Network wants to help celebrate American Indian and Alaska Native women. Please feel free to email us stories or histories of women who should be so honored. We will select several to publish throughout the month of March.

The Census Bureau released the following information on women:

National Women39;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.

157.0 million

The number of females in the United States according to the 2010 Census. The number of males was 151.8 million.

At 85 and older, there were more than twice as many women as men.

Motherhood

85.4 million

Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2009.

2.3

Average number of children that women 40 to 44 had given birth to as of 2008, down from 3.4 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 81 percent in 2010, down from 90 percent in 1976.

Earnings

$36,931

The median annual earnings of women 15 or older who worked year-round, full time, in 2010, unchanged from 2009.

Education

30.7 million

Number of women 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or more in 2010, higher than the corresponding number for men (29.2 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.

29.6 Percent

Percent of women 25 and older who had obtained a bachelor's degree or more as of 2010.

11.3 million

Number of college students in fall 2010 who were women.

Businesses

$1.2 trillion

Revenue for women-owned businesses in 2007.

7.8 million

The number of women-owned businesses in 2007.

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.

4

Number of states with at least 500,000 women-owned businesses in 2007 were California, Texas, New York and Florida. California had 1.0 million women-owned businesses, Texas had 609,947 or 7.8 percent of all women-owned businesses in the United States, New York had 594,517 or 7.6 percent, and Florida had 581,045, or 7.4 percent.

Voting

46.2 Percent

Percentage of female citizens 18 and older who reported voting in the 2010 congressional election. Forty-five percent of their male counterparts cast a ballot. Additionally, 66.6 percent of female citizens reported being registered to vote.

Jobs

58.6 Percent

Percentage of females 16 and older who participated in the labor force, representing about

71.9 million women, in 2010.

40.6 Percent

Percent of employed females 16 and older who worked in management, professional and related occupations, compared with 34.2 percent of employed males.

Military

205,500

Total number of active duty women in the military, as of Sept. 30, 2010. Of that total, 38,700 women were officers, and 166,800 were enlisted.

Marriage

64.9 million

Number of married women 18 and older (including those who were separated or had an absent spouse) in 2011.

5 million

Number of stay-at-home mothers nationwide in 2010.

posted March 3, 2012 7:30 am est