Go Women :)

   More women are graduating college than men, and are out-earning mean in college degrees. Only 10.5 million men (25-year old adults and older) have a master’s degree or higher; for women, this number is 10.6 million. Women began to outnumber men in this aspect in the year 1996. Today, this gap is widening. Because of receiving a higher education, women receive more opportunities than ever before to enter into the workforce. Keeping women in the workforce produces a positive effect on our economy—they help our country’s GDP, create and keep successful companies and businesses running, and as a spending decision, and use their money to help the future United States economy.

"In a First, Women Surpass Men in College Degrees." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 26 Apr. 2011.

Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

Here's a video by CBS talking about how women and men's roles are switching: more women are working while men are staying at home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_a14cGPTM 

When they made their impact: WWII

    This isn't the only time women entering the workforce has affected the economy. During World War II, when men had to leave their jobs to go off and fight, many women stepped in to help. Although some women went off to fight, the majority of women took jobs in factories to make war supplies to send to our troops. Employment of married women between the years 1929 and 1940 increased 28%, especially women between the ages of 25-44 grew to 13.8%. Because women stepped up to the plate and took on jobs that men in the army left behind, our economy stayed level. Even though our economy wasn't in the greatest shape due to the Great Depression, this event in history shows how deeply women in the workforce impacted our economy. With the recession in the state it is now, it’s important that women stay in the labor force and continue coming into it, because it worked in the past for us, and helped us get out of the Depression, so maybe women will help us get out of this recession.

"Women in World War II." Women in World War II. University of Illinois, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.

Rosie the Riveter was government propaganda to help push more women into the workforce

This YouTube video shows the contrast of women's lives before they entered the workforce to when they entered it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBnR5JilQGs

Women in the workforce increases slowly (but surely) in other countries

   
    Not only is women participation in the workforce rising in America, it is also steadily increasing across the globe. Although the percentage of women employment is small (such as in Italy and France), from 1997 to 2008 the change of that percentage is dramatic (see graph below). In other countries, women may not have the same type of economic impact compared to here in the United States. Although we lag behind Denmark in how much our rising female work force has gone, Denmark and the U.S. are still far above the other countries. We may consider ourselves more progressive than other nations in some terms, but overall I believe that our nation especially needed women in the workforce more because of our ever-changing economy.

"Female Power." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 30 Dec. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.
  




Interesting way to look at this: A graph that shows how low the difference between male and female employment rates is in Sweden















Here's another graph. yet this is showcasing how steadily the female employment rate is rising.















Notice how Japan is almost dead last in both these graphs? (The first one, has about 22% with percentage gap and the second graph they're also in second) This video shows Kathy Matsui talking about how women entering Japan's workforce definitely will help their economy. http://www.youtube.com/user/GoldmanSachs?v=lFhVKY_BGXw

Businesswomen= success? Of course

     It’s also a proven fact that successful start-ups have more women in senior positions than unsuccessful ones. For example, almost 16% of board members are corporate and board officers of Fortune 500 companies. Although this may seem like a relatively low number, Fortune 500 countries are hugely successful companies, such as PepsiCo, Archer Daniels Midland, and W.L. Gore. Catalyst, a research foundation, discovered that there is a "...26% difference in return on invested capital between the top-quartile companies (with 19-44% women board representation) and bottom quartile companies (with zero woman directors)" (Barsh). Women’s work obviously benefits corporations, so women being involved with high-ranking companies has never been more of an important thing to maintain! 

Tozzi, John. "Women Help Startups Succeed. When Will VCs Notice?" Bloomberg Businessweek-Small Business. Bloomberg Business, 5 Oct. 5. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

Here's a short article by the Huffington post that talks about the number of women CEO's in Fortune 500 companies has risen dramatically: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/fortune-500-female-ceos_n_1495734.html  

Women as entrepreneurs

     One area that women have the most impact on is that they help build and sustain successful companies. They also are more likely to start up their own companies! As entrepreneurs, women help make more jobs, thus employing more people. Women own 28% of small businesses in America. Ernst and Young reports that “A recent New York Times Magazine story features a Pakistani woman named Saima Muhammad, who was once so poor that she couldn't afford to feed her daughter”, yet she was able to launch a widely successful embroidery business, which employs 30 families now, all because of a US loan. So, it’s important to know that giving women entrepreneurs a chance can pay off in the end. It’s been hard for women to enter the job market, but becoming an entrepreneur is even harder, thus it’s crucial to build up their confidence and give them the opportunity to shine. 

"Women in the Workplace." Women in the Workplace - Unleashing the Power of Women

       Entrepreneurs - Ernst & Young - Global. Ernst and Young, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.

Two successful women entrepreneurs: Tyra Banks (left) and Oprah Winfrey (right)

Go to this link and click on the arrows to see some statistics about women entrepreneurs just in the year 2007. Even though this is 5 years ago, these numbers are probably much higher now. This goes to show how much change can happen over a short period of time. Interesting stuff! http://www.slideshare.net/michellevillalobos/female-entrepreneurs-key-statistics-insights#btnPrevious 

Women with their Benjamins

    Women also control 51% of private wealth in America. They have more than 50% of all stock ownership and have power over of 60% of all personal wealth in the U.S. As more women enter into the workforce, their hold over wealth and stocks in America may increase even more. With this in mind, it’s important to realize how much influence women have as a spending decision and to know that women have more control over our financial crisis than we know.  

Walter, Ekaterina. "The Top 30 Stats You Need to Know When Marketing to Women." TNW

        Network All Stories RSS. The Next Web, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

Here's an interesting article that talks about just how rich the richest women in America are! http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/09/19/the-richest-women-in-america/  

Women don't JUST spend their money on clothes..

    Because women control more than 80% of spending decisions, it’s important to know what they spend most of their money on. This way, we can see how women impact the economy in a positive way by learning where and on what they spend their hard-earned paychecks on. This will let certain manufacturers and companies know how important it is to market their products to women. Let me break this down: women make 85% of all consumer purchases. They make 80% of health care decisions and make 68% of new car purchases. Women also spend more online than men—they account for 58% of all online shopping purchases.

Walter, Ekaterina. "The Top 30 Stats You Need to Know When Marketing to Women." TNW

          Network All Stories RSS. The Next Web, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

Watch some of this video off of YouTube to learn more information about women and their spending trends and how to appeal more to them as buyers. (start at 00:25) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il03yYq3l3g 

Women as spenders... What's new?

    Women, on average, spend their wages more, thus they help stimulate the economy more. And since more of them are in the workforce now, this will help our economy get out of the hole! Now, all that needs to be done is that women need to get paid equally to men. For years, and even still today, women have been cheated in pay. Women earn 77 cents to every dollar that men make. Some bills have been passed (such as the Fair Pay Act) in order to try and stop this from happening, yet women still get discriminated against when it comes to payments. Hopefully, by realizing how important women are to America’s economy, employers will stop doing this and value the work women put in. 

Fitzpatrick, Laura. "Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?" TIME U.S. Time Magazine, 20

      Apr. 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

See how Lilly Ledbetter, because of how she explains her story of how she was paid disproportionately just because she was a woman, and how taking a stand led to the passing of the Ledbetter Act
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMxsYqaFwA0 

Did you know that women affect the GDP? Neither did they!

     Since more women than ever before are going into the workforce, they contribute tremendously to our GDP. From the 1970’s until today, women account for approximately one-fourth of America’s GDP. Women have helped the GDP growth rate increase 3%! Although the number of women entering the economy is basically leveling out (because there are only so many women available to work, for various reasons), it’s important that women maintain their position in the workforce because otherwise our GDP rate may lower. This could cause our country to go deeper into a recession, which is something Americans do not want to continue happening. Still, if each state could increase the number of women in the workforce to 84%, that would be 5.1 million women added, which would possibly trigger the GDP to grow 4%. 

Barsh, Joanna. "Organization." Unlocking the Full Potential of Women in the US Economy.  

 McKinsey & Company, Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

In the Harvard Business Review, Slyvia Hewlett expands more upon this, suggesting that women could even help the GDP grow by 5%! Link: http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hewlett/2012/11/more_women_in_the_workforce_could_raise_gdp.html 

Breaking News: Women Have Huge Impact on Economy!

      It has been a top story in newspapers and news stations around the United States. Steadily, the number of women in the workforce is increasing. Women make just a bit under half of America’s workforce (46.6% in 2011). Yet, women are above men in that they are obtaining higher degrees. The 2010 consensus reported that 37% employed women have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 35% of men. Because women are becoming a bigger part of America’s workforce, it’s important to know how they will affect our economy! Overall, women have been (and will continue) to have a positive effect on America’s economy because they contribute enormously to our GDP, help build and sustain successful companies, and spend their money to further boost America's economy.

Trevizo, Perla. "Women Overtake Men in Earning Degrees at All Levels." Timesfreepress.com. Times  

Free Press, 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Source: U.S. Department of Education

Here's a link that further talks about this topic: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/census-working-women-surpass-men-in-bachelor-advanced-degrees/1#.UMTp_-RX2M0