On March 8, 1857, women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. In 1981, 124 years after that historic protest, Congress established National Women’s History Week to be commemorated the second week of March. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month. Here are some facts about American women from the U.S. Census Bureau:
- According to the 2010 Census, 157.0 million females lived in the United States at the time. The number of males was 151.8 million. At 85 and older, there were more than twice as many women as men.
- In 2010, there were about 71.9 million women 16 and older who participated in the labor force. Of those women, 40.6% worked in management, professional and related occupations, compared with 34.2 % of employed males.
- In 2010, the median annual earnings of women 15 or older who worked year-round was $36,931 , unchanged from 2009.
- In 2010, there were 30.7 million women 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree. 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.
- In 2007, there were 7.8 million women-owned businesses. Those businesses employed 7.5 million people and brought in $1.2 trillion in revenue.
- There are am estimated 85.4 million mothers of all ages in the United States.
- As of Sept. 30, 2010, there were 205,500 active duty women in the military. Of that total, 38,700 women were officers, and 166,800 were enlisted.