The White House Council on Women and Girls was created by President Obama in early 2009 to enhance, support and coordinate the efforts of existing programs for women and girls. When President Obama signed the Executive Order creating the Council on Women and Girls, he noted that the issues facing women today “are not just women’s issues.” When women make less than men for the same work, it impacts families who then find themselves with less income and often increased challenges in making ends meet. When a job does not offer family leave, it impacts both parents and often the entire family. When there’s no affordable child care, it hurts children who wind up in second-rate care, or spending afternoons alone in front of the television set.
The Council’s mission is to provide a coordinated Federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families. The Council also serves as a resource for each agency and the White House so that there is a comprehensive approach to the Federal government’s policy on women and girls.
In support of the Council on Women and Girls, the Office of Management and Budget and the Economics and Statistics Administration within the Department of Commerce worked together to create this report, which for the first time pulls together information from across the Federal statistical agencies to compile baseline information on how women are faring in the United States today and how these trends have changed over time. We believe that the information in this report is vitally important to inform the efforts of the Council on Women and Girls—and may be equally important in providing facts to a broad range of others who are concerned with the well-being of women and girls, from policymakers to journalists to researchers.
This report provides a statistical picture of women in America in five critical areas: demographic and family changes, education, employment, health, and crime and violence. By presenting a quantitative snapshot of the well-being of American women based on Federal data, the report greatly enhances our understanding both of how far American women have come and the areas where there is still work to be done.
Each page of this report is full of the most up-to-date facts on the status of women. Of particular note are the following:
- As the report shows, women have made enormous progress on some fronts. Women have not only caught up with men in college attendance but younger women are now more likely than younger men to have a college or a master’s degree. Women are also working more and the number of women and men in the labor force has nearly equalized in recent years. As women’s work has increased, their earnings constitute a growing share of family income.
- Yet, these gains in education and labor force involvement have not yet translated into wage and income equity. At all levels of education, women earned about 75 percent of what their male counterparts earned in 2009. In part because of these lower earnings and in part because unmarried and divorced women are the most likely to have responsibility for raising and supporting their children, women are more likely to be in poverty than men. These economic inequities are even more acute for women of color.
- Women live longer than men but are more likely to face certain health problems, such as mobility impairments, arthritis, asthma, depression, and obesity. Women also engage in lower levels of physical activity. Women are less likely than men to suffer from heart disease or diabetes. Many women do not receive specific recommended preventative care, and one out of seven women age 18-64 has no usual source of health care. The share of women in that age range without health insurance has also increased.
- Women are less likely than in the past to be the target of violent crimes, including homicide. But women are victims of certain crimes, such as intimate partner violence and stalking, at higher rates than men.
Facts alone can never substitute for actions that directly address the challenges faced by women of all ages and backgrounds. But facts are deeply important in helping to paint a picture of how the lives of American women are changing over time and in pointing toward the actions and policies that might be most needed. The White House Council on Women and Girls has supported Administration efforts to ease the burden of going to college; increase the number of girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math; and promote equal pay for women. We also fought for passage of the Affordable Care Act, which provides health insurance to millions, and coordinated an unprecedented government-wide effort to end violence against women and girls. Yet, we know there is much more to do. The Council on Women and Girls is committed to raising the visibility of women’s lives, as well as thinking strategically about how to address these challenges. Reports like this one help us to achieve that goal.
We thank those who worked on putting this report together, and are particularly grateful to the Federal statistical agencies that regularly collect and report these data so that all Americans can better understand the society and economy in which we live. Valerie Jarrett Christina Tchen Chair, Council on Women and Girls Executive Director, Council on Women and Girls, and Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor Christina Tchen Executive Director, Council on Women and Girls, Assistant to the President, and Chief of Staff to the First Lady