Women’s History Month: March 2023
National Women’s History Month traces its roots to March 8, 1857, when women from various New York City factories staged a protest over poor working conditions. The first Women's Day celebration in the United States was in 1909, also in New York City. More than seven decades later, Congress in 1981 established National Women's History Week to be commemorated annually the second week of March. In 1987. Congress expanded the week to a month and every year since has passed a resolution (and the president has issued a proclamation) designating March Women’s History Month.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we reflect upon advances women have made with the following Census Bureau data
We appreciate the public’s cooperation in helping us measure America’s people, places, and economy.
Did You Know?
168 million
The number of females in the United States as of 2021. There were about 164 million males.
Source:
3.8 million
There were about 1.6 million more females ages 85 and older (3.8 million) than males (2.2 million) in the United States as of 2021.
Source:
36.1%
In 2021, the percentage of women 25 and older who had earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared with 33.9% of men.
Source:
79.1 million
The number of females ages 16 and older who participated in the civilian labor force in 2021. This comprises 58.2% of females ages 16 and older.
Source:
81.5%
The percentage of full-time, year-round female workers over 16 years’ median earnings compared to men in 2021.
Source:
More Stats
More on Select Occupations
Earnings
Education
Previous Facts for Features
Stats for Stories
America Counts
- What Is the Gender Wage Gap in Your State?
- Gender Pay Gap Widens as Women Age
- Average Teachers’ Earnings Declining, Lower Than Similarly Educated Workers
- Women Making Gains in STEM Occupations but Still Underrepresented
- Unequally Essential: Women and Gender Pay Gap During COVID-19
- Parents Juggle Work and Child Care During Pandemic
- Understanding Equity Through Census Bureau Data
- Cost of Motherhood on Women’s Employment and Earnings
- Women More Likely to Have Multiple Jobs
- College Degree Widens Gender Earnings Gap
- Women More Likely Than Men to Have No Retirement Savings
- Fertility Rates Declined for Younger Women, Increased for Older Women
- Are Women Really Opting Out of Work After They Have Babies?
- The Choices Working Mothers Make
- Spouses Report Earnings Differently When Wives Earn More
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Observances in our Facts for Features series:
- National Black History Month (February)
- Women's History Month (March)
- Irish-American Heritage Month (March)
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May)
- The Fourth of July
- Anniversary of Americans With Disabilities Act (July 26)
- National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15)
- Halloween (Oct. 31)
- National Native American Heritage Month (November)
- Veterans Day (Nov. 11)
- Holiday Season (November — December)
Editor’s note: These data come from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. We generally release Facts for Features about two months before observances to accommodate magazine production timelines. For more information, contact the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office at (301)763-3030 or <[email protected]>.
Profile America's Facts for Features provides statistics related to observances and holidays not covered by Stats for Stories. For observances not listed above, visit our Stats for Stories webpage.
Stats for Stories provides links to timely story ideas highlighting newsworthy Census Bureau statistics that relate to current events, observances, holidays and anniversaries. The story ideas are intended to assist the media in story mining and producing content for their audiences. Dates with presidential proclamations are marked with (P).