...Women's Day
Today is International Women’s Day (IWD) since it falls on 8th March every year. It’s an official holiday in China (for women only!) and all the women have half of the day off (yet not even the full day and besides this year it falls on a Sunday… double bummer!)
Mao famously once said that “Women hold up half the sky”. But I’m wondering who’s holding the other half?
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Gender facts found on the IWD website:
Networking...
- Women use 20,000 words a day while men only use 7,000
Global Issues...
- Females in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km
- Globally women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80
- Pregnant women in Africa are 180 times more likely to die than in Western Europe
- 530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year
- Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women
- 80% of the world's 27 million refugees are women
- Women own around only 1% of the world's land
- Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education
Innovation...
- Globally women comprise 42% internet users (Italy 37% ... US & Canada 51%)
- In OECD countries women comprise only 30 per cent of degrees in science and technology
- Women's representation in computer and information sciences workforce is around 30% globally
- Female inventors still only account for around 10% of the US inventor population
Business / Finance...
- Women control $14 trillion in assets and this should grow to $22 trillion over next 10 years
- Women comprise 21 of the 37 million people living below the poverty line in the US
- Only in Japan and Peru are women more active in starting a business than men
- Women spend more time researching before they invest than men do
Media / Art ...
- Only 21% of all news subjects (people interviewed or whom the news is about) are female
- Women less than 1% department heads, editors, media owners but third of working journalists
- 80% of UK purchasing decisions are made by women but 83% of 'creatives' are men
Work...
- Women do two-thirds of the world's work but receive only 10% of the world's income
- Women's education is the most powerful predictor of lower fertility rates
- One year out of college women earn 20% less than men and 10 years later 31% less
- Women on average are away from workforce for 14.7 years compared to 1.6 years for men
Government...
- 56% of women who voted supported Obama compared to only 49% of men voted for Obama
- Until 20 years ago there had never been more than 5% women MPs globally
- Benazir Bhutto was the first woman prime minister of a muslim country (assassinated 27/12/07)
- From the 27 EU member states, UK ranks 15 for women's representation in national Parliaments
- From 1945 to 1995 the percentage of women MPs worldwide increased four-fold
