CB01-FF.03 March 15, 2001
Women's History Month: March 1-31
Note: The estimates in this fact sheet should not be confused with
Census 2000 results, which are scheduled for release over the next three
years.
Education
84%
The percentage of women age 25 and over with a high school diploma or more,
which equals the percentage for men. The college degree attainment gap
between the sexes has not closed completely, but it is closing. In 2000,
24 percent of women age 25 and over had a bachelor's degree or higher,
compared with 28 percent of men.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-211.html
30%
The percentage of young women, ages 25 to 29, who have completed
college as of 2000, which exceeds the 28 percent of their male
counterparts who have done so. Young women also had higher high school
completion rates than young men: 89 percent versus 87 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-211.html
56%
The proportion of all college students in 1998 who were women. Women
have represented the majority of college students since 1979.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-179.html
57%
The proportion of masters' degrees awarded to women in 1997. Women
also represented 56 percent of the people awarded bachelor's degrees, 44
percent of the law degrees, 41 percent of the medical degrees and 41
percent of the doctorates.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-27.html
49%
The percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in business and
management in 1997 that went to women. Women also received 54 percent of
the biological and life sciences degrees.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-27.html
Earnings, Income and Poverty
$26,324
The 1999 median earnings of women working full-time, year-round.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-158.html
4.9%
The increase between 1998 and 1999 in the median income of family
households maintained by women with no spouse present ($24,932 to
$26,164). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-158.html
27.8%
The record-low poverty rate in 1999 for families made up of a female
householder with no husband present.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-158.html
Jobs
61%
The percentage of women age 16 and over in the civilian labor
force in March 2000. The percentage for men was 74 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-49.html
57%
The percentage of the 70 million women age 15 and over who worked at
some point in 1999 that were full-time year-round workers.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-158.html
72%
The percentage of women age 16 and over in 2000 who worked in one of
four occupational groups: administrative support, including clerical (24
percent); professional specialty (18 percent); service workers, except
private household (16 percent); and executive, administrative and
managerial (14 percent).
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-49.html
Population Distribution
106.7 million
The estimated number of women age 18 and over living in the United States
as of Nov. 1, 2000. The number of men 18 and over was 98.9 million. Women
outnumbered men in every age group, from ages 25 and over and up. There
were 141.1 million females of all ages.
http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/intfile2-1.txt
80 years
The projected life expectancy for women in 2000, which was higher
than the life expectancy for men (74 years.)
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-27.html
Motherhood
59%
The record-high percentage of women with infants under the
age of 1 in 1998 who were in the labor force, almost double the 31 percent
rate of 1976. This compares with 73 percent of mothers ages 15 to 44 in
the labor force that same year who did not have infants.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-175.html
51%
The 1998 percentage of married-couple families with children in which
both spouses worked. This is the first time since the Census Bureau
started recording fertility information that these families were the
majority of all married-couple families. The rate in 1976 was 33 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-175.html
1.9
The average number of children women 40 to 44 years old in 1998 had by
the end of their childbearing years. This contrasts sharply with women in
1976, who averaged 3.1 births.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-175.html
19%
The proportion of all women ages 40 to 44 who were childless in 1998,
up from 10 percent in 1976. During the same time, those with four or more
children declined from 36 percent to 10 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-175.html
Marriage and Family
51%
The percentage of women 15 years old and over in
2000 who were married and living with their spouse. Of the rest, 25
percent had never married, 10 percent were divorced, 2 percent were
separated and 10 percent were widowed.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb0149.html
25.0 years
The median age at first marriage for women in 1998, more than
four years older than the 20.8 years just a generation ago (1970).
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-47.html
22%
The proportion in 1998 of 30- to 34-year-old women who had never
married triple the rate in 1970 (6 percent). Similarly, the proportion of
never-married women increased from 5 percent to 14 percent for 35-to-39
year olds over the period.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-47.html
15.3 million
The number of women living alone in 1998, double the number
in 1970 7.3 million.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-47.html
9.8 million
The number of single mothers in 1998, an increase of 6.4
million since 1970. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html
30.2 million
The number of households in 1998 about 3 in 10 maintained by
women with no husband present. In 1970, there were 13.4 million such
households, about 2 in 10.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html
Sports and Recreation
135,000
The number of women taking part in National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned sports during the
1997-98 school year; women constituted 4 in 10 participants in
NCAA-sanctioned sports. The 7,859 NCAA-sanctioned women's teams exceeded
the number of men's teams. Soccer had the most female athletes;
basketball, the most women's teams.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-27.html
2.7 million
The number of girls taking part in high school athletic
programs during the 1998-99 school year, triple the number in 1972-73.
Participation levels by boys remained about the same during this time
frame, about 3.8 million in 1998-99.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-27.html
Computer Use
70%
The percentage of women with access to a computer at home
in 1997 who used it; the rate for men was 72 percent. The home
computer-use "gender gap" between men and women has shrunk considerably
since 1984, when men's home computer use was 20 percentage points higher
than that of women.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-194.html
57%
The percentage of women who used a computer on the job in 1997, 13
percentage points higher than the percentage of men who did so.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-194.html
Voting
46%
Among citizens, the percentage of women who voted in the 1998
congressional election; that was better than the 45 percent of men who
cast their ballots. This continued a trend that started in 1986.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-114.html
The preceding facts come from the Current Population Survey, population
estimates and the Statistical Abstract of the United States. The data are
subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Previous
Census Bureau Facts for Features this year: African American History Month
(February) and Valentine's Day (Feb. 14). Questions or comments should be
directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office (Tel:
301-457-3030; Fax: 301-457-3670; E-mail: pio@census.gov).
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