Women-Friendly Factoids

First things first, HAPPY 2010!

Second thing, if you don't read The Economist, YOU SHOULD!

Third thing, interesting article for you non-Economist readers (female-oriented)... titled Female Power. The article was all of 3 pages long, with 2 pictures and 3 graphs. Therefore, I'm going to sum up this article for all of my female readers who need a little empowerment! Female Power covered everything from women working in the 50s to women working who are actively pursuing childbirth. It hit me with some interesting and eye-opening statistics, as well as much needed knowledge about the world that I'm walking into as a working woman. Here are some of the tidbits and stats that I picked up:

• ... women now make up almost half of American workers (49.9% in October).
• ... women earn almost 60% of university degrees in America and Europe.
• ... in Italy and Japan employment rates for men are more than 20 percentage points higher than those for women.
• ... women earn substantially less than men on average and are severely under-represented at the top of organizations.
• ... today, women make up the majority of professional workers in many countries (51% in the United States).
• ... the feminisation of the workforce has been driven by the relentless rise of the service sector (where women can compete as wel as men) and the equally relentless decline of manufacturing (where they could not).
• ... improved technology reduced the amount of time needed for the traditional female work of cleaning and cooking.
• ... most interesting factoid: The most important innovation has been the contraceptive pill, which has not only allowed women to get married later but also increased their incentives to invest time and effort in acquiring skills.
• ... the expansion of higher education has also boosted job prospects for women, improving their value on the job market and shifting their role models from stay-at-home mothers to successful professional women.
• ... in 1963, 62% of college-educated women in the United States were in the labour force, compared with 46% of those with a high school diploma. Today 80% of American women with a college education are in the labour force compared with 67% of those with a high school diploman and 47% of those without one.
• ... only 2% of the bosses of Fortune 500 companies and five of those in the FTSE 100 stockmarket index are women.
• ... women make up less than 13% of board members in America. In American and Britain the typical full-time female worker earns only about 80% as much as the typical male.
• ... in the European Union women have filled 6 million of the 8 million new jobs created since 2000.
• ... in America, the female unemployment rate is 8.6%, compared to 11.2% for men.
• ... the Bureau of Labour Statistics calculates that women make up more than two-thirds of employees in ten of the 15 job categories likely to grow fastest in the next few years. By 2011 there will be 2.6 million more owmen than men studying in American universities.
• ... Goldman Sachs calculates that increasing women's participation in the labour market to male levels will boost GSP by 21% in Italy, 19% in Spain, 16% in Japan, 9% in America, France and Germany, and 8% in Britain.

I find these things interested because it is a huge shift in the economy, not only in America, but across the globe. It is now 'ok' for women to be the breadwinners in the family, and men are accepting that as they realize that women are just as capable to maintain as they are. I'm not a feminist or anything, but reading and learning about the wonderful strides of women around the world makes my day. I'm definitely proud to be a growing statistic, a WOMAN! More power to us :-)

**These statements have been taken directly from The Economist, January 2nd-8th, 2010 edition.