Sexism and Gender Discrimination Statistics

 

  • Women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6% of what men working similar hours earn; women working more than 60 hours per week earn only 78.3% of what men in the same time category earn (Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited in Hilary M. Lips, "The Gender Wage Gap: Debunking the Rationalizations").
  • Furthermore, women may work longer to receive the promotions that provide access to higher pay. For example, among school principals, women have an average of 3 years longer as teachers than men do (National Center for Education Statistics, cited in the same).
  • Pay inequality figures are even worse for women of color. African American women earn only 72 cents and Latinas 60 cents for every dollar that men earn (AFL-CIO, "It's Time for Working Women to Earn Equal Pay").
  • Women typically face challenges breaking into male-dominated fields. However, they still dominate traditionally female professions, such as the following:
    Industry Growth for Women's Occupations (1997-2006)
    Occupation Percent
    Secretaries & Administrative Assistants 96.7
    Child Care Workers 94.6
    Hairdressers, Stylists, Cosmetologists 92.9
    Registered Nurses 91.7
    Teacher Assistants 91.5
    Medical Assistants & Other Healthcare Support 90.6
    Auditing Clerks 90.3
    Maids & Housekeeping Services 89.2
    Home Health Aides 88.3
    Elementary & Middle School Teachers 80.9
    Office Clerks, General 85.3
    Cashiers 75.6
    Supervisors, Office Managers & Admin Support 73.4
    Customers Service Representatives 68.5
    Accountants & Auditors 61.8

    (Department of Labor, cited in Lahle Wolfe, "Job Fields Business Women Dominate")
  • The largest percentage of employed Asian and white women (47% and 39%, respectively) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. For both black and Hispanic women, it was sales and office occupations--33% (Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, Quick Stats 2007).
  • In jobs that are predominantly occupied by women such as cashiers or child care workers, women make about 95% of men’s wages (DoL, cited in Karen Harper, "Sexism in the Media").
  • Estimates of non-fatal domestic violence against women range from 1 million to 4 million a year with nearly 1 in 3 women experiencing a physical assault from a partner in adulthood (Domestic Violence Statistics, District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence at www.dccadv.org).
  • Women have a 10 times greater likelihood of being victimized by an intimate than men (ibid.).
  • Also, 33% of all women murdered are murdered by an intimate partner. In fact the leading cause of death among pregnant women is not complications from pregnancy, but murder.(Kim Curtis, "Murder: The leading cause of death for pregnant women." Associated Press April 23, 2003)
  • A woman’s life expectancy in the United States is 80 years, as compared to 85 in Japan, 73 in Saudi Arabia, 63 in India, 53 in Haiti, and 47 in Ethiopia (Population Reference Bureau, 2004 World Population Data Sheet, accessed on November 2, 2004, cited in Our Bodies Ourselves Health Resource Center).
  • In the United States, there are 11 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. In Austria, there are 4 maternal deaths; in Denmark, there are 5; in Mexico, there are 83; and in Haiti, there are 680 (Maternal Mortality in 2000, estimates developed  by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA, accessed on November 5, 2004).

 

Cause/Topic: 
Faith (for Content): 
Other Tags: