Our Times Tally, Volume 2, Women’s Edition – February 2009

● Percentage of the world’s labour force who are women: 41
● Percentage of the world’s poor who are women: 70
● Number of countries around the world where women’s wages are equal to those of men: 0
● Chance that a minimum wage worker in Canada is female: 2 in 3
● Chance that a woman in Canada lives in poverty: 1 in 7
● Chance that a First Nations woman in Canada does: 1 in 3
● Ratio of number of senior women to senior men in Canada who are classified as poor: 2 to 1
● Number of Canadian provinces or territories that have no pay equity legislation: 5
● Percentage of Canadians who support a national child care strategy: 76
● Percentage of a male salary that an American woman will make one year after college graduation: 80
● Percentage ten years later: 69
● Number of women around the world who died in 2005 giving birth: 536,000
● Chance that these deaths occurred in the Global South: 99 in 100
● Year in which Swiss women were granted the right to vote in the state of Appenzell Innerrhoden: 1990
● Percentage of elected parliamentarians in the world today who are women: 18.2
● Year in which a Canadian provincial legislature first consisted of at least 30% female members: 2003
● Number of countries around the world whose parliaments consist of at least 40% female members: 6
● Of these, number that are located in the Global South: 3
● Percentage of all staple foods in Africa produced by women: 70
● Percentage of global agricultural assistance given to female farmers: 10
● Estimated number of women around the world forced into marriage each year: 2 million
● Percentage of abortions globally that are performed in unsafe conditions: 48
● Percentage of American girls who have been on at least one diet by the age of ten: 81
● Number of women on an episode of America’s Next Top Model who were photographed posing as murder victims: 10
● Chance that a woman in the United States referred to herself as a feminist twenty years ago: 1 in 3
● Chance that a women in the United States refers to herself as a feminist today: 1 in 5
● Percentage of American women who believe there is a gender bias in the media: 61
● Percentage who believe they are being treated unfairly in the workplace: 68
● Chance that an American male believes that a man “is naturally more suited” for the duties of President: 2 in 5
● Percentage of Americans who believe George W. Bush was “the worst President the U.S. has ever had”: 28
● Percentage of British citizens who believe that the role of women in society is “to be good mothers and wives”: 30
● Chance that a case of spousal abuse against a Canadian woman is reported to the police: 2 in 5
● Since 1983, number of women who have gone missing from the low-income area of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: 60
● Year in which the Vancouver Police and RCMP launched an investigation: 1999
● Percent of Canadian women who say they “feel worried while waiting or using public transit alone at night”: 64
● Of the 850 million illiterate people in the world, percentage who are women: 70
● Number of Canadian men who currently belong to a union: 2,237,200
● Number of Canadian women who do: 2,248,000
● Year in which the first international conference on women’s rights took place: 1878

Our Times Tally, inspired by Harpers Index (see www.harpers.org), is compiled by freelance writer Sean Cain.

SOURCES: 41, 70 – International Labour Organization (2007); 0 – United Nations (The World’s Women 2005: Progress in Statistics); 2 in 3 – Statistics Canada (Perspectives on Labour and Income: Fact Sheet on Minimum Wage, 2005) 1 in 7 – Canadian Association of Social Workers (March 2004); 1 in 3 – Statistics Canada (Women in Canada: A Gender-Based Statistical Report, 2005); 2 to 1, 5 – Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (Women’s Inequality in Canada, September 2008); 76 – Environics Poll (June 2006); 80, 69 – American Association of University Women Educational Foundation (2007); 536,000, 99 in 100 – United Nations Population Fund (Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights, 2008); 1990 – Wikipedia (Timeline of Women’s Suffrage); 18.2, 2003 – Julie Cool (Library of Parliament, October 2008); 6, 3 – Inter-Parliamentary Union (November 2008); 70 – World Bank; 10, 2 million – Womankind Worldwide; 48 – The Lancet Medical Journal (Sexual and Reproductive Health Series, October 2006); 81 – Social Issues Research Centre (Mirror, Mirror: A Summary of Research Findings on Body Image); 10 – America’s Next Top Model (Episode Five, March 21, 2007); 1 in 3 – Time Magazine (June 29, 1989); 1 in 5, 61, 68, 2 in 5 – Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates (November 6, 2008); 28 – Opinion Research Corporation/CNN Poll (December 21, 2008); 30 – Ipsos Mori Poll (May/June 2008); 2 in 5 – Statistics Canada (General Social Survey, 2004); 60, 1999 – Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (Women’s Inequality in Canada, September 2008); 64 – Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children; 70 – Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace (Facts and Figures: Human Rights, 2002); 2,237,200, 2,248,000 – Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey; 1878 – Karen Offen (European Feminisms, 1700 – 1950).