By the Numbers: Women and Work

Since 1987 the United States has recognized March as Women’s History Month. In honor of that, we look at some numbers related to American women and the workforce.

12.7

The percentage of U.S. civil engineers who are women, up from 1.3 percent in 1970.

14.8

The percentage of police officers who are women, up from 3.7 percent in 1970.

24.4

The percentage of computer programmers who are women, slightly up from 24.2 percent in 1970.

32.4

The percentage of physicians and surgeons who are women, up from 9.7 percent in 1970.

33.4

The percentage of lawyers and judges who are women, up from 9.7 percent in 1970.

35.8

The percentage of U-S. firms owned by women.

52.6

The percentage of pharmacists who are women, up from 12.1 percent in 1970.

60

Percentage of accountants who are women, up from 24.6 percent in 1970.

63

Percentage of social scientists who are women, which is the heaviest representation of women among all STEM fields. Women also are 14 percent of the nation’s engineers, 45 percent of the mathematicians and 47 percent of life scientists.

91.2

The percentage of registered nurses who are women, down from 97.3 percent in 1970.

$39,621

The median annual earnings of women who work full-time, compared to $50,383 for men.

1.6 million

Number of women veterans in the United States.

5.1 million

The number of stay-at-home mothers, compared to 190,000 stay-at-home fathers.

43.5 million

Estimated number of mothers in the U.S.

67.1 million

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

75.6 million

The number of females 16 and older who participated in the civilian labor force (according to the 2014 Community Survey).

Source:  census.gov