Federal Report on the Status of Women

Posted on March 3, 2011 by townsend

• White House marks Women’s History Month with 50-year progress report, By Daniel B. Wood, March 1, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “Young women in America are more likely than men to have a college degree, and women’s earnings constitute a growing share of household income, but their wages still lag significantly behind those of men with comparable education, according to a report on the status of women released Tuesday by the White House. The White House released the report, which it called the ‘first comprehensive federal report on the status of women in almost 50 years,’ on the first day of Women’s History Month. It was 1963 when the Commission on Women, formed by President John F. Kennedy and chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, issued the first such report. That was the same year that ‘Dr. No,’ the first James Bond film, was shown in US theaters, Iranian women got to vote for the first time, and Sheriff Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor unleashed fire hoses and police dogs on African-American demonstrators in Birmingham, Ala…”
• Gap remains between the sexes when it comes to income, By Lesa Jansen, March 1, 2011, CNN.com: “The earnings gap between men and women has narrowed, but a new White House report shows that on average women still only make about 75% as much as their male counterparts. The report released Tuesday shows that women have not only caught up with men in college attendance but in fact have surpassed them, yet that gain hasn’t translated into the pocketbook. Statistics also show women are more likely than men to live in poverty. This is the first comprehensive look at women’s status in American society in more than 50 years, according to the Obama administration. Valerie Jarrett, White House counselor and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, calls the report ‘a guidepost to help us move forward,’ and also says the data will affect future policy decisions…”