15 March 2001

U.S. Census Bureau Profile of American Women

The typical American woman is married, working outside the home and has a secondary school diploma or better, according to the latest profile of the female population compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

A March 15 Census Bureau press release describes the data, which are highlighted in recognition of National Women's History Month.

The report says 51 percent of U.S. women are married and living with a spouse. Of women over 16 years of age, 61 percent are in the labor force, but most of them are still earning less money than men. The Census Bureau data show that the median wages of women equal only 72 percent of the median wages being earned by men.

The Census Bureau news release summarizes more detailed information available on the World Wide Web at the following sites:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/ppl-121.html

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01ff03.html

Following is the text of the Census Bureau press release:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NEWS

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

March 15, 2001

U.S. Census Bureau Releases Profile of Nation's Women

Last year, about 1 out of every 2 women was married and living with a spouse, 1 in 4 was a college graduate and 1 in 7 employed women worked in executive, administrative or managerial occupations, according to new data on the nation's women released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau cautioned that the new estimates should not be confused with Census 2000 results, which are scheduled for release over the next three years.

The statistics on women are extracted from two different products: one is a series of 21 tables from the March 2000 Current Population Survey, titled Women in the United States: 2000, PPL-121, covering such topics as age, marital status, educational attainment, occupation, earnings and poverty status. They also show comparable national data for men.

The other product is a special edition of the Census Bureau's monthly Facts for Features, celebrating Women's History Month in March. It consists of narrative on many of the same topics covered in the tables, plus fertility, sports and recreation, computer use and voting.

Other highlights:

Most women have a high school diploma. In fact, at 84 percent, the high school completion rate for women age 25 and over equals the rate for men. Additionally, 24 percent of women had a bachelor's degree or higher, somewhat lower than the 28 percent of men who did.

Among young adults ages 25 to 29, women typically were better educated than men (30 percent had at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 28 percent for men).

The majority of our nation's residents are female. Females outnumbered males, according to 2000 estimates, by 6 million 140 million to 134 million. The male-to-female ratio declines with age. In 2000, the male-to-female ratio was 105 males for every 100 females for the population under age 20, 98 for ages 20 to 44, 95 for ages 45 to 54, 91 for ages 55 to 64, 83 for ages 65 to 74, 70 for ages 75 to 84 and 50 for ages 85 and over.

About one-half of women 15 years and over (51 percent) were married and living with their spouse, 25 percent had never married, 13 percent were divorced or separated and 10 percent were widowed.

The majority of women (61 percent) 16 years and over were in the civilian labor force; 74 percent of men were.

Women are concentrated in three different occupational groups. About 6 in 10, (58 percent) of employed women age 16 and over worked in administrative support, including clerical (24 percent), professional speciality (18 percent) and service, except private household, jobs (16 percent).

The median earnings of women 15 years and over who worked full time, year-round in 1999 was $26,300, which was 72 percent of the median earnings of their male counterparts ($36,500).

In 1999, 13.2 percent of females and 10.3 percent of males were in poverty.

Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. The Current Population Survey uses the 1990 census as the base for its sample.

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