Women
in America: Indicators of Social & Economic Well-Being
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 the Women in America (pdf) report which,
for the first time in recent history, 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. The report provides a statistical portrait showing how women’s
lives are changing in five critical areas:
By bringing together data from across the Federal government, the report is
one of most comprehensive sources for information on women’s lives today. This
is the first such federal initiative since 1963, when the Commission on Status
of Women, established by President Kennedy and chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt,
produced a report on the conditions of women. This data initiative will
allow government, non-government, and individual actors to craft appropriate
responses to changing circumstances. The initiative furthers three
governance themes of the Obama Administration: (1) pursuing
evidence-based policymaking; (2) catalyzing the private sector, including
private researchers, to partner with the government in analyzing data and
formulating appropriate policies; and (3) pursuing an all-government and
all-agency approach to addressing special issues affecting Americans.
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. Better understanding women’s social and
economic well-being now and in the past will help generate ideas to help us all
win the future.
Download the full Women in America: Indicators of Social and
Economic Well-Being (pdf) report.
Additional Resources
The Women in America report is accompanied by this website which
compiles in one place some of the vast Federal statistical data concerning
women.
Federal data agencies release updated and new information regularly on their
own websites; therefore, we encourage all interested parties to check for the
latest information. For the most recent information, please visit:
www.census.gov
www.nces.ed.gov
www.nsf.gov
www.bls.gov
www.cdc.gov/nchs
www.bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov
Below, we have compiled information relating to women veterans.
Women Veterans
- Population and
Demographics
- Female Veteran Population Projections
- Projected Veteran Population (female percentage)
- Estimated Number of Female Veterans in U.S. and
Puerto Rico
- Percentage Distribution of the Estimated Female
and Male Veteran Population by Census Region
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Marital
Status and Gender
- Percentage Distribution of the Estimated Female
and Male Veteran Population by Hispanic Origin and Race
- Percentage Distribution of Veterans by Period of
Service and Gender
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Combat, War
Zone, or Exposure to Dead/Dying Wounded and Gender
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Branch of
Service, Gender, and Age
- Health
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Status, Gender, and Age
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Functional
Limitation, Gender, and Age
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Conditions, Gender, and Age
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Type of
Health Insurance, Gender, and Age (Less Than 65 Years and 65 Years or
Older)
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Source of
Care, Type of Care, and Gender
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Insurance Coverage of VA Health Care Users of Emergency Room, Outpatient
Care, or Overnight Stays in Hospitals Only, Gender, and Age (Less Than 65
Years and 65 Years or Older)
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Insurance Coverage of VA Health Care Users, Gender, and Age (Less Than 65
Years and 65 Years or Older)
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Insurance Coverage of Non-VA Health Care Users of Emergency Room,
Outpatient Care, or Overnight Stays in Hospitals Only, Gender, and
Age (Less Than 65 Years and 65 Years or Older)
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Insurance Coverage of Non-VA Health Care Users, Gender, and Age (Less
Than 65 Years and 65 Years or Older)
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Reasons
Veterans Didn't Use VA Health Care in Past 12 Months and Gender
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Reasons for
Never Using VA Health Care, Gender, and Age
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Status, Gender, and Source of Care for Emergency Room, Outpatient Care,
or Overnight Hospital Stays Only
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Health
Status, Gender, and Source of Care
- Veterans Receiving VA Disability Compensation by
Disability Rating by Gender
- Percent Distribution of Veterans Receiving
Service-connected Disability Compensation by Importance of Disability Payment
in Meeting Needs, Degree of Disability, and Gender
- Veteran Benefits
- Home
Ownership
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Current Home
Ownership, Gender, and Age
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Current Home
Ownership, Gender, and Marital Status
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Current Home
Ownership, Gender, and Income
- Life
Insurance
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by VA and
Non-VA Life Insurance Coverage, Gender, and Age
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by Reasons
Veterans Don't Have VA Life Insurance and Gender
- Education
Benefits
- Percent Distribution of Veterans, Comparing Use
of VA Education and Training Benefits and Non-VA Financial Assistance by
Gender and Period of Service
- Percent Distribution of Veterans by How VA
Education and Training Benefits Were Used, Gender, and Period of Service
People, Families, and Income
The Women in America report describes various demographic
characteristics and trends in women’s marriage, living arrangements,
childbearing, and poverty. The Census Bureau is the primary source of the data (census.gov).
As the report indicates in regard to people, families and income:
- Women are marrying later and have fewer children than
in the past. A greater proportion of both women and men have never married,
and women are giving birth to their first child at older ages.
- Although more adult women live in married-couple
families than in any other living arrangement, an ever-growing number of
women are raising children without a spouse.
- More women are remaining childless, although eight out
of ten adult women have children.
- As the baby boom generation ages, a growing share of
women – and men – are older. Because women live longer, women continue to
outnumber men at older ages.
- Women are more likely to live in poverty than are adult
men. Single-mother families face particularly high poverty rates,
often because of the lower wages earned by women in these families.
An overview of this section is available in the Women in America fact sheet (pdf).
For additional resources on these demographic topics relating to women,
please visit the Census Information on Women.
Below, we have compiled other relevant demographic statistics about American
women.
- Population
- Population by Age and Sex (Table 1)
- Employment
status of the civilian noninstitutional population by age, sex, and race
(Table 3 16)
- Race and Hispanic Origin by sex
- Prevalence
of disability in the population, by gender (and other selected
characteristics)
- Limitation in work activity due to health
problems (Table 6)
- U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population 5
years old and older, by disability status, type of disability, sex, and
age (Table A-3)
- Prevalence
of poverty in the population, by gender (and other selected
characteristics);
- Poverty status of population by sex and age
(Table 21)
- Poverty status among adolescents 10–17 years of
age, by family structure and race and Hispanic origin: United States,
2005 (Figure 2)
- Age and Sex of All People, Family Members and
Unrelated Individuals Iterated by Income-to-Poverty Ratio and Race
- Poverty Rates by Sex and Single Year of Age 2009
- Age
at first marriage/ child:
- Marriage by age/race and Hispanic origin,
(Figure 1)
- Probability of first marriage before a given age
by sex, (Figure 2)
- Probability of marriage before a given age by
sex, race and Hispanic Origin, (Figure 3)
- Marital status of people 15 years and over by
age, sex, personal earnings, race, and Hispanic origin in 2010
(Table A1)
- Average age of mother at first birth, 1970-2006
(Figure 1)
- Percentage of first births, by age of mother,
1970-2006 (Figure 2)
- Average age of mother at first birth, by race
and Hispanic origin of mother, 1990 and 2006 (Figure 4)
- Average age of mother at first birth, selected
countries, 1970 and 2006 (Figure 5)
- Women who had a child in the last year per 1000
women by race, Hispanic origin, nativity status and selected
characteristics (June 2008) (Table 4)
- Women 15 to 44 with a birth in the last year by
living arrangement, age and educational attainment (June 2008)
(Table 10)
- Household type and
family composition
- Adults by household type (including cohabitation)
(Table 1-8, 15)
- Family status and household relationship of
people 15 years and over, by marital status, age and sex: 2010 (Table
A2)
Education
The Women in America report describes levels and trends in women’s
educational attainment, school enrollment, and fields of study. The data are
primarily from the National Center for Education Statistics (nces.ed.gov) or the
National Science Foundation (nsf.gov).
As the report indicates in regard to education:
- Women’s gains in educational attainment have
significantly outpaced those of men over the last 40 years. Today,
younger women are more likely to graduate from college than are men and
are more likely to hold a graduate school degree. Higher percentages
of women than men have at least a high school education, and higher percentages
of women than men participate in adult education.
- Educational gains among women relative to men can be
seen across racial and ethnic groups and this trend is also present in
other developed countries.
- Despite these gains in graduation rates, differences
remain in the relative performance of female and male students at younger
ages, with girls scoring higher than boys on reading assessments and lower
on math assessments.
- These differences can be seen in the fields that women
pursue in college; female students are less well represented than men in
science and technology-related fields, which typically lead to higher
paying occupations.
For additional resources on these education-related topics relating to women,
please visit the National Center on Education Statistics or the National
Science Foundation.
Other reports that provide detailed information about this topic include:
Women,
Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering Indicators 2010 (pdf)
Below, we have compiled other relevant statistics about the education status
of American women.
- Education Level
- Highest
education level attained, by gender (and other selected characteristics)
- Number of persons age 18 and over, by highest
level of education attained, age, sex, and race/ethnicity (Table 9)
- Percentage of persons age 25 and over and 25 to
29, by race/ethnicity, years of school completed, and sex: Selected
years, 1910 through 2009 (Table 8)
- Participation
in higher education, by gender (and other selected characteristics)
- Percentage of high school completers who were
enrolled in 2- or 4-year colleges the October immediately following high
school completion, by sex and type of institution (Table A-20-4)
- Enrollment of first-time, first-year
undergraduate students at all institutions, by race/ethnicity,
citizenship, sex, and enrollment status
- Undergraduate enrollment at 2-year institutions,
by race/ethnicity, citizenship, sex, and enrollment status
- Undergraduate enrollment at 4-year institutions,
by race/ethnicity, citizenship, sex, and enrollment status
- Undergraduate enrollment status, by sex,
race/ethnicity, citizenship, institutional control, and enrollment
status
- National
standardized testing results, by gender (and other selected
characteristics)
- SAT mean scores of college-bound seniors, by
sex: 1966-67 through 2008-09 (Table 144)
- ACT score averages and standard deviations, by
sex and race/ethnicity, and percentage of ACT test takers, selected
composite score ranges and planned fields of study: Selected years, 1995
through 2009 (Table 147)
- Kind of higher education
institution (community college, public university, other
- Enrollment, staff, and degrees conferred in
postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV programs, by level and
control of institution, sex of student, and type of degree (Table
187)
- Major area of study
- Major
areas of study, by gender (and other selected characteristics)
- Persons age 18 and over who hold at least a
bachelor’s degree in specific fields of study, by sex, race/ethnicity,
and age (Table 10)
- Associates Degree by sex and field:1997-2006
- Associate's degrees, by field, citizenship, and
race/ethnicity: 1997–2006
- Bachelor's degrees, by sex and field
- Bachelor’s degrees by sex and field with field
broken out: 1997-2006
- Degrees awarded in all fields, by degree level
and sex of recipient (Table 2)
- Bachelor's degrees, by race/ethnicity,
citizenship, sex, and field: 2006
- Bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering,
by sex, race/ethnicity, and citizenship
- Doctoral degrees awarded in S&E and
non-S&E fields to U.S. citizens and permanent residents
- Historical summary of faculty, students,
degrees, and finances in degree-granting institutions: Selected years,
1869–70 through 2007–08 (Table 188)
- Occupation of employed persons 25 years old and
over, by educational attainment and sex (Table 383)
- Definite post-graduation plans of U.S.-citizen
and permanent-resident S&E doctoral degree recipients, by major
field, sex, and location
- STEM Education
- Percentage of public and private high school
graduates taking selected mathematics and science courses in high school,
by sex and race/ethnicity (Table 151)
- Share
of STEM degrees going to women
- Science and engineering degrees awarded, by
degree level and sex of recipient (Table 3)
- Female share of S&E graduate students, by
field: 1996 and 2006 (Figure D-1)
- Distribution of Bachelor’s Degrees by Field and
Sex (Tables 7-10)
- Distribution of Master’s Degrees by Field and
Sex (Tables 14-18)
- Distribution of Doctoral Degrees by Field and
Sex (Tables 21-25)
- STEM
Achievement
- Average mathematics scale scores of 8th-graders,
by selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1990
through 2009 (Table A-12-2)
- Average science scale scores and percentage of
4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders attaining science achievement levels,
byselected student characteristics and percentile (Table 140)
- STEM
degrees conferred
- Number of Bachelor’s degrees conferred by degree
granting-institutions, by sex, race/ethnicity, and field of study
(Table 285)
- Women in STEM doctoral programs (Table 1)
- Job-related training
- Adult
Education
- Participation in Career-related training, by sex
(Table 370)
- Financial assistance for
education and debt burden for education
- Percentage of Undergraduates receiving different
types of financial aid by sex, income, and full- or part-time status.
(Table 338)
- Primary source of support for full-time S&E
graduate students, by sex and field
- Primary source of support for U.S.-citizen and
permanent-resident S&E doctorate recipients, by field and sex
Employment
The Women in America report describes levels and trends in women’s
employment, earnings, and time use. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the main
source of the data (bls.gov).
As the report indicates in regard to employment:
- The participation of women in the workforce rose
dramatically through the mid-1990s, but has been relatively constant since
then.
- Workforce participation among men has declined, but
women are still less likely to work in the paid labor force than are
men. When women do work, they are much more likely than men to work
part-time.
- Women continue to spend more of their time in household
activities or caring for other family members; they also do more unpaid volunteer
work than men.
- Despite their gains in labor market experience and in
education, women still earn less than men.
- In part, this is because women and men work in
different occupations, with women still concentrated in lower-paying and
traditionally female occupations.
- Because women earn less and because two-earner
households have higher earnings, families headed by women have far less
income than do married-couple families.
For additional resources on these employment-related topics relating to women,
please visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics - Women.
For information about assets and wealth of American households, including
those headed by females, please visit: IRS Personal Wealth Statistics, Federal Reserve Board Survey of Consumer Finances, U.S. Census Survey
of Income and Program Participation, or the Bureau of Economic
Analysis.
Other reports that provide detailed information about this topic include:
Highlights
of Women’s Earnings in 2009 (pdf)
Volunteering in the United States 2010 (pdf)
American
Time Use Survey 2009 (pdf)
Below, we have compiled other relevant statistics about the employment
status of American women.
- Labor market
participation
- Employment
rate, by gender (and other selected characteristics)
- Employment
status of the civilian noninstitutional population by age and sex and
race, 2009 annual averages (Table 3)
- Employment status of the foreign-born and
native-born populations 25 years and over by educational attainment,
race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 2008-09 annual averages
(Table 4)
- Employment
status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and over by
sex, 1973 to date (Table 2)
- Employment
status of the Hispanic or Latino population by age and sex (Table 3)
- Employment status by marital status and sex,
2008 annual averages (Table 4)
- Employment status of the population by sex,
marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18, 2008-09
annual averages (Table 5)
- Economic
activity of women after childbirth
- Families with own children: Employment status of
parents by age of youngest child and family type, 2008-09 annual
averages (Table 4)
- Employment status of the population by sex,
marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18 (Table
5)
- Working patterns
- Full-time
and part-time work, by gender (and other selected characteristics)
- Employed persons by full- and part-time status
and sex, 1970-2008 annual averages (Table 20)
- Flexible
working patterns (availability)
- Flexible schedules: Full-time wage and salary
workers by selected characteristics, May 2004 (Table 30)
- Job related work at home on primary job
(Table 31)
- Employed persons working at home and at
their workplace and time spent working at each location (Table 6)
- Multiple
jobs
- Multiple jobholders and multiple jobholding
rates by sex and race 1970-2008 (Table 35)
- Industrial sector and
occupation
- Female
employees by industry sector (and male employees by industry sector as a
comparison)
- Employed women 16 years and older as a
percentage of selected occupations (Figure H-1)
- Employed persons by detailed industry, sex,
race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (Table 18)
- Proportion
of those in employment who are self-employed
- Unincorporated self-employed persons in nonagricultural
industries by sex, 1976–2009 (Table 33)
- Participation
in STEM fields (SRS)
- Women scientists and engineers and managers in
business or industry (Figure H-4)
- Full-time employed science, engineering, and
health doctorate holders, by sex, field of doctorate, and employment
(Table 3)
- Science, engineering, and health doctorate
holders employed full time in academic institutions, by selected
demographic characteristics (Table 4)
- Women as a Percentage of full-time tenured/tenure0track
faculty by field (Table 5)
- Employed scientists and engineers, by
occupation, highest degree level, and sex (Table H-5)
- Employed scientists and engineers, by
occupation, highest degree level, race/ethnicity, and sex (Table
H-7)
- Union membership
- Union affiliation of employed wage and salary
workers by sex, annual averages, 1983-2008 (Table 38)
- Union affiliation of employed wage and salary
workers by selected characteristics (Table 1)
- Voluntary and Community
Activities
- Volunteering
by type of activity carried out
- Volunteers by type of main organization for
which volunteer activities were performed and selected characteristics,
September 2009 (Table 4)
- Main volunteer activity for main organization
for which activities were performed and selected characteristics,
September 2009 (Table 5)
- Volunteers by how they became involved with main
organization for which volunteer activities were performed and selected
characteristics (Table 6)
- Participation
in voluntary and community activities within the last 12 months by gender
(and other selected characteristics)
- Volunteers by selected characteristics,
September 2009 (Table 1)
- Use of Time
- Recreational,
social, and leisure activities
- Time spent in leisure and sports activities for
the civilian population by selected characteristics, 2008 annual averages
(Table 11)
- Women as caretakers
- Overall
- Time spent in detailed primary activities, and
percent of the civilian population engaging in each detailed activity
category, averages per day by sex (Table A-1)
- Time spent in detailed primary activities, and
percent of the civilian population engaging in each detailed primary
activity category, averages per day on weekdays and weekends (Table
A-2)
- Women
as caretakers
- Time spent in primary activities for the
civilian population 18 years and over by employment status, presence and
age of youngest household child, and sex, 2008 annual averages (
Table 8)
- Time spent caring for household children under
18 by sex of adult 1 and age of youngest child by day of week, average
for the combined years 2004-08 (Table 9)
- Time spent providing secondary childcare for
household children under 13 by sex of adult and age of youngest child by
day of week (Table 10)
- Time spent in primary activities and the percent
of married mothers and fathers who did the activities on an average day
by employment status and age of youngest own household child (Table
A-6)
- Time spent in primary activities by married
mothers and fathers with own household children under 18 by employment
status of self and spouse and age of youngest child (Table A-7)
- Charts by topic: Care of household children (by
adults living in households with children)
- Financial Resources and
Access to Services
- Wages
and Earnings
- Median usual weekly
earnings for full-time workers, by gender (and other selected
characteristics)
- Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and
salary workers, by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 2009
annual averages (Chart 2)
- Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage
and salary workers, in current dollars, by sex and age, 1979–2009
annual averages (Table 12)
- Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage
and salary workers, in constant (2008) dollars, by sex and age,
1979–2009 annual averages (Table 13)
- Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage
and salary workers, in current dollars, by sex, race, and Hispanic or
Latino ethnicity, 1979–2009 annual averages (Table 14)
- Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage
and salary workers, in constant (2009) dollars, by sex, race, and
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 1979–2009 annual averages (Table 15)
- Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage
and salary workers 25 years and over by educational attainment and sex,
2009 annual averages (Table 17)
- Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage
and salary workers by industry and sex, 2009 annual averages (Table
19)
- Women’s earnings as a percent of men’s,
full-time wage and salary workers, 1979–2009 annual averages (Chart
1)
- Distribution of
full-time workers’ wages, by gender (and other selected characteristics)
- Distribution of full-time wage and salary
employment, by sex and major occupation group, 2009 annual averages
(Chart 4)
- Distribution of full-time wage and salary
workers, by usual weekly earnings and selected characteristics, 2009
annual averages (Table 7)
- Median hourly earnings
of workers paid by the hour, by gender (and other selected
characteristics)
- Median hourly earnings of wage and salary
workers paid hourly rates, by selected characteristics, 2009 annual
averages (Table 9)
- Distribution of hourly
earnings of workers paid by the hour, by gender (and other selected
characteristics)
- Distribution of wage and salary workers paid
hourly rates, by hourly earnings and selected characteristics, 2009
annual averages (Table 10)
- STEM
- Median annual salary of scientists and engineers
employed full time, by highest degree, broad occupation, age, and sex:
2006 (Table H-16)
- Median STEM salary by field of bachelor’s
degree and selected (Table H-13)
- Primary education/employment status and median
salary of 2003, 2004, and 2005 science, engineering, and health
master's degree recipients, by field of master's degree, sex,
race/ethnicity, and disability status (Table H-14)
- Employment status and median salary of 2003,
2004, and 2005 science, engineering, and health doctoral degree
recipients, by broad field of doctorate, sex, race/ethnicity, and
disability status (Table H-15)
- Use
of government services and benefits
- Claimants of key
benefits
- Percentage of current beneficiary women aged
62–64 receiving Social Security benefits, by type of benefit: December
1984, 1994, and 2004 (Chart 9)
- Percentage of women aged 55–64 who ever had a
pension, by pension type: 1994 and 2004(Chart 8)
- Average retired-worker benefits for current
beneficiaries aged 62–64, by sex: 1984, 1994, and 2004 (Chart 10)
- Percentage of people aged 55–64 with
employer-based retiree health insurance, by sex: 1994 and 2004
(Chart 11)
Health
The Women in America report describes levels and trends in women’s
life expectancy, prevalence of chronic health conditions, access to health
care, and health insurance coverage. The data come primarily from the
National Center for Health Statistics (cdc.gov/nchs).
As the report indicates in regard to health:
- Life expectancy has increased over time for both women
and men; however, women continue to live longer than men.
- Women are disproportionately more likely than men to be
affected by certain critical health problems, including mobility
impairments, chronic health conditions such as asthma, arthritis, or
depression. Women are less likely to be physically active and are
more likely to be obese. Females age 12 and older are more likely
than males to report experiencing depression.
- Women continue to have a lower incidence of heart
disease than men and are less likely than men to suffer from diabetes.
- Women generally use the health care system and
preventive care more than men, but many women still do not receive
recommended preventive care such as pap smears or flu vaccinations.
- The share of both adult women and men without health
insurance has increased over time. People with insurance are much more
likely to have a doctor or other medical professional who provides regular
care; one out of seven women have no usual source of health care.
For additional resources on health topics relating to women, please visit
the Health,
United States, 2010 Report.
Below, we have compiled other relevant statistics about the health status of
American women.
- Life expectancy
- Life expectancy at birth, at 65 years of age, and
at 75 years of age, by race and sex
- Life expectancy at birth and 65 years of age
international rankings: OECD countries
- Mortality
- Infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality
rates, by detailed race and Hispanic origin of mother
- Infant mortality rates and international
rankings: OECD countries
- Death rates by cause of death
- Leading causes of death and numbers of death by
sex, race, and Hispanic origin (1980 and 2007)
- Maternal mortality for complications of
pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium
- Fertility and Natality
- Fertility
and childbirth
- Crude birth rates, fertility rates, and birth
rates, by age, race, and Hispanic origin of mother
- Teenage childbearing, by race and Hispanic
origin of mother
- Nonmarital childbearing, by race, Hispanic
origin of mother, and maternal age
- Low birthweight live births among mothers 20
years of age and over, by detailed race, Hispanic origin and education
of mother
- Average
age of mothers giving birth
- Average age of mothers at first birth
(Figure 1)
- Average age of mother at first birth, by race
and Hispanic origin of mother (Figure 4)
- Breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding by year of baby’s birth and
selected characteristics of mother
- Health Conditions
- Obesity
- Obesity, overweight and healthy weight among
adults
- Obesity among adults (interactive database)
- Obesity among children 2-19
- Obesity among children (interactive database)
- Hypertension
- Hypertension and elevated blood pressure among
adults
- Hypertension among adults (interactive database)
- Diabetes
- Diabetes among adults by sex, age, and race and Hispanic
origin
- Diabetes among adults (interactive database)
- Pain
- Joint paint among adults among adults
- Severe headache or migraine, low back pain, and
neck pain among adults
- Behaviors impacting
health
- Cigarette
smoking
- Cigarette smoking among men, women, and high
school students (Figure 11)
- Mothers who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy,
by selected characteristics
- Cigarette smoking (interactive database)
- Excess
drinking
- Heavy and binge drinking among adults
- Physical
activity
- Participation in leisure-time aerobic and
muscle-strengthening activities
- Physical activity among students in grades 9–12
- Physical activity (interactive database)
- Drug
use
- Use of selected substances in past month by age,
sex, and race
- Use of selected substances in past month by high
school seniors, 10th graders, and 8th graders
- Other
health risks among adolescents
- Health risk behaviors among students in grades
9–12, by sex, grade level, race, and Hispanic origin
- Use of health services
and preventative health services
- Inpatient
and outpatient data
- Discharges, days of care, and average length of
stay in nonfederal short-stay hospitals, by selected characteristics
- Cancer
screenings
- Use of mammography within past 2 years among
women 40 years of age and over, by race and Hispanic origin
- Use of Pap smears among women by selected
characteristics
- Other
preventative care (physicals, other screenings)
- Influenza vaccination s among adults, by
selected characteristics
- Prenatal
healthcare
- Prenatal care for live births, by race and
Hispanic origin of mother
- Sexual health
- Contraceptive
use
- Contraceptive use among never-married female
adolescents 15–19 years of age who have had sexual intercourse in the
past 3 months, by method used (Table 15)
- Contraceptive use in the past month among women
15–44 years of age, by age, race, Hispanic origin, and method of
contraception
- Abortion
- Legal abortions and legal abortion ratios, by
selected patient characteristics
- Sexually
transmitted diseases
- Chlamydia—Rates: Total and by sex
- Chlamydia—Age- and sex-specific rates
- Gonorrhea—Rates: Total and by sex
- Gonorrhea—Age- and sex-specific rates
- Primary and secondary syphilis—Rates: Total and
by sex and male-to-female rate ratios
- Primary and secondary syphilis—Age- and sex-specific
rates
- Sexually transmitted disease rates in
adolescents and young adults
- Mental Health
- Depression
- Depression among adults (Figure 12)
- Suicide
rates
- Death rates for suicide, by sex, race, Hispanic
origin, and age
- High School Students Reporting Considering,
Planning, or Attempting Suicide in the Past 12 Months, by Sex
- Health care access and
use
- Health
care access
- No usual source of health care among adults
18-64 years of age, by selected characteristics
- Reduced access to medical care, dental care, and
prescription drugs during the past 12 months due to cost, by selected
characteristics
- Health
care use
- Health care visits to doctor offices, emergency
departments, and home visits within the past 12 months by selected
characteristics
- Visits to primary care generalist and specialist
physicians, by selected characteristics and type of physician
- Health care expenses,
health insurance and sources of payment
- Expenses for health care and prescribed medicine,
by selected characteristics
- Sources of payment for health care, by selected
characteristics
- No health insurance coverage among persons under
65 years of age, by selected characteristics
- Private health insurance coverage among persons
under 65 years of age, by selected characteristics
Crime/Violence
The Women in America report describes levels and trends in women’s
victimization, crime, and involvement in the criminal justice system. The data
come primarily from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov).
As the report indicates in regard to crime and violence:
- Women are less likely than men to be victims of
crime. As overall crime rates have fallen in the United States, the
likelihood of victimization has declined.
- The probability of being a victim of a violent crime
(assault, robbery, or homicide) has declined among both men and women in
the last two decades.
- Attacks on women by their intimate partners have fallen
since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, although
women are still much more likely to be victimized and injured by this type
of violence than are men.
- Females made up 70% of victims killed by an intimate
partner in 2007, a proportion that has changed very little since
1993. Intimate partners were responsible for 3% of all violence
against males and 23% of all violence against females in 2008.
- Although rape is considered to be underreported,
reported rape rates have declined over time.
- The majority of rapes were committed by someone known
to the victim, primarily an acquaintance.
- Women are at far greater risk than men for stalking
victimization.
- Women are more likely to commit crimes now than in the
past, although women who commit crimes are more likely to be arrested for
nonviolent property crimes compared to male criminals whose crimes are
more likely to involve violence.
- During the past two decades, imprisonment rates have
risen for both men and women, although the share of women in prison is
still much lower. Like their male counterparts, black and Hispanic
women are much more likely to experience imprisonment than white women.
Many imprisoned women have minor children.
Other reports that provide detailed information about this general topic
include:
Criminal Victimization in the United States 2007 (pdf)
Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner
Violence (pdf)
Below, we have compiled other relevant statistics about the crime and
violence affecting American women.
- Violence against Women
- Number
of violent crimes against women (and by way of contrast, by men)
- Number of victimizations and victimization rates
for persons age 12 and over, by type of crime and gender of victims
(Table 2)
- Victimization rates for persons age 12 and over,
by gender and age of victims and type of crime (Table 4)
- Percentage Distribution of Victims by Victim
Gender, Type of Victimization, and Perpetrator Gender
(Exhibit 28, 29)
- Type of violent
incidents
- Victimization rates for persons age 12 and over,
by gender and age of victims and type of crime (Table 4)
- Percentage and number of women and men who were
raped in lifetime and previous 12 months (Exhibit 1)
- Dating violence and being forced to have sexual
intercourse among students in grades 9–12, by gender and grade level:
United States, 2005 (Figure 19)
- Prevalence and type of
sexual assault
- Percentage of women and men who were victims of a
completed versus attempted rape in lifetime (Exhibit 3)
- Percentage distribution of female and male rape
victims by type of rape experienced (Exhibit 5)
- Percentage distribution of female and male rape
victims by age at time of first rape (Exhibit 10)
- Percentage distribution of female and male rape victims
by characteristics of the rape (Exhibit 17)
- Proportion of women
experiencing intimate partner violence
- Persons Victimized by an Intimate Partner in
Lifetime and in Previous 12 Months, by Type of Victimization and Gender
(Exhibit 1)
- Persons Physically Assaulted by an Intimate
Partner in Lifetime, by Type of Assault and Victim Gender (Exhibit 3)
- Persons Victimized by an Intimate Partner in
Lifetime, by Victim Gender, Type of Victimization, and White/Nonwhite
Status of Victim (Exhibit 5)
- Persons Victimized by an Intimate Partner in
Lifetime, by Victim Gender, Type of Victimization, and Victim Race
(Exhibit 6)
- Persons Victimized by an Intimate Partner in
Lifetime, by Victim Gender, Type of Victimization, and
Hispanic/Non-Hispanic Origin of Victim (Exhibit 7)
- Prevalence and type of
violence
- Distribution of Rape and Physical Assault
Victims, by Frequency and Duration of Victimization and Gender
(Exhibit 11)
- Prevalence and type of
stalking
- Perceived gender of the stalking or harassment
offender, by victim gender (Table 4)
- Characteristics of Stalking and Harassment
Victims (Table 3)
- Victim-Offender Relationship in Stalking and
Harassment (Table 5)
- Relationship of victim
to perpetrator
- Percentage distribution of female and male
rape victims by victim-perpetrator relationship (Exhibit 13)
- Percentage of women and men who were raped in
lifetime by victim-perpetrator relationship (Exhibit 14)
- Percentage distribution of child, adolescent, and
adult rape victims by victim-perpetrator relationship and victim gender
(Exhibit 15)
- Percentage distribution of female former intimate
partner rape victims by point in relationship when rape(s) occurred
(Exhibit 16)
- Percentage Distribution of Adult Victims of
Violence by Victim-Perpetrator Relationship and Victim Gender: All Types
of Victimization (Exhibit 26)
- Percentage Distribution of Adult Rape and Physical
Assault Victims by Victim-Perpetrator Relationship and Victim Gender
(Exhibit 27)
- Type of violent crime, by victim-offender
relationship and sex of victim, 1994 (Table 4)
- Costs of Violence
against Women
- Use
of health services by victims of domestic violence and sexual assault
- Average Annual Injury and Medical Utilization
Estimates for Adult Victims of Intimate Partner Rape and Physical
Assault, by Gender (Exhibit 15)
- Estimated Medical Care Service Use and Unit Costs
for Nonfatal Intimate Partner Rape Against U.S. Adult Women, 1995
(Table 8)
- Distribution of Primary Source of Payment for Medical
Care Resulting from Nonfatal Intimate Partner Rape and Physical Assault
Against U.S. Adult Women, 1995 (Table 9)
- Estimated Medical Care Service Use and Unit
Costs for Nonfatal Intimate Partner Physical Assault Against U.S. Adult
Women (Table 10)
- Distribution of Primary Source of Payment for
Mental Health Care Resulting from Intimate Partner Rape, Physical
Assault, and Stalking Against U.S. Adult Women, 1995 (Table 11)
- Social and Economic
costs of violence
- Percentage distribution of female and male rape victims
by mental health and lost productivity outcomes (Exhibit 20)
- Estimated Lost Productivity Among U.S. Adult
Female Victims of Nonfatal Intimate Partner Violence, by Victimization
Type and by Time Lost from Paid Work and Household Chores, 1995
(Table 7)
- Estimated Total Costs of intimate Partner
Violence Against U.S. Adult Women, 1995 (Table 12)
- Use of criminal justice
system
- Distribution of Intimate Partner Rape, Physical
Assault, and Stalking Victims, by Law Enforcement Outcomes and Gender
(Exhibit 16)
- Distribution of Intimate Partner Rape, Physical
Assault, and Stalking Victims, by Prosecution Outcomes and Gender
(Exhibit 18)
- Distribution of Intimate Partner Rape, Physical
Assault, and Stalking Victims, by Protective Order Outcomes and Gender
(Exhibit 19)
- Percentage distribution of female rape victims by
justice system outcomes and whether rapist was intimate or nonintimate
(Exhibit 21)
- Percentage distribution of female victims who did
not report rape to the police by reason for not reporting (Exhibit
22)
- Whether Stalking or Harassment Victims Took
Actions to Protect Themselves or Stop Unwanted Behaviors (Table 8)
- Types of Help Sought by Stalking or Harassment
Victims (Table 9)
- Percent of Stalking and Harassment Victimizations
Reported to the Police, by victim gender (Table 14)