11% Say Crime Makes it Unsafe to Walk

How many Americans feel unsafe walking because of crime? That question was included in the 2020 National Health Interview Survey along with several others meant to probe perceptions of the walking environment. 

Overall, 11 percent of people aged 18 or older say crime makes it unsafe for them to walk. Women are more likely to feel that way (13 percent) than men (9 percent). Here are the percentages for women and men by age...

Percent of women (and men) who say crime makes it unsafe for them to walk

Aged 18 to 24: 17.1% (9.3%)

Aged 25 to 44: 14.1% (10.1%)

Aged 45 to 64: 12.7% (8.9%)

Aged 65-plus: 9.9% (6.5%)

The perception that crime makes it unsafe to walk falls with age—particularly among women. 

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Who Felt that Crime Makes it Unsafe to Walk, by Sex and Age Group—National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2020

Men's College Enrollment Rate Falls to 38-Year Low

The percentage of male high school graduates who enroll in college soon after graduating from high school fell to the lowest level in almost 40 years, according to government data. Among 16-to-24-year-old men who graduated from high school in 2021, just 54.9 percent had enrolled in college by October of that year. The 2021 enrollment rate is a hefty 4.4 percentage points below the 2020 figure and fully 12.5 percentage points below the all-time high recorded in 2016. Not since 1983 has the male enrollment rate been lower.

Male college enrollment rate for selected years 

2021: 54.9%

2020: 59.3%

2016: 67.4% (record high)

2010: 62.8%

2000: 59.9%

1990: 58.0%

1980: 46.7%

1970: 55.2%

1960: 54.0%

Note: The college enrollment rate is the percentage of 16-to-24-year-olds who graduated from high school in a given year and were enrolled in college by October of that year. 

While men's college enrollment rate fell between 2020 and 2021, the enrollment rate of women increased by 3.3 percentage points to 69.5 percent. Women's 2021 rate is not far from the all-time high of 74.0 percent reached in 2010. 

The gap between women's and men's college enrollment rates has never been larger. With an enrollment rate of 69.5 percent for women and just 54.9 percent for men in 2021, the difference between women's and men's college enrollment rates is nearly 15 percentage points.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, TED: The Economics Daily, 61.8 Percent of Recent High School Graduates Enrolled in College in October 2021, and National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, Table 302.10

59% Know Someone Who Had an Abortion

Most Americans personally know someone who has had an abortion, according to a Pew Research Center survey fielded in March—prior to the leaking of the Supreme Court's draft opinion in a case challenging Roe v. Wade. "Personally know" is defined as a close friend, family member, or themselves.

There are surprisingly few differences by demographic characteristic in the share of Americans who personally know someone who has had an abortion. At least 50 percent of every demographic segment—with the exception of the youngest adults—personally know someone who has had an abortion. 

Personally know someone who has had an abortion

Total 18-plus: 59%

Aged 18 to 29: 46%

Aged 30 to 49: 60%

Aged 50 to 64: 65%

Aged 65-plus: 60%

Blacks: 67%

Hispanics: 50%

Whites: 61%

Democrats: 62%

Republicans: 57%

Catholics: 55%

Protestants: 61%

White evangelicals: 58%

No religion: 61%

Women (66 percent) are much more likely than men (51 percent) to personally know someone who has had an abortion. This pattern holds true in every demographic segment. 

Source: Pew Research Center, America's Abortion Quandary

Decline in Real Median Annual Earnings of Men

Men of prime working age have not made any economic progress over the past 30 years, according to an analysis by the Social Security Administration. Among men aged 20 to 59, median earnings stagnated or declined between 1989 and 2019, after adjusting for inflation. Here are the numbers...

Real median annual earnings of men aged 20 to 29

2019: $26,830

1989: $26,830

Change: $0

Percent change: 0.0

Real median annual earnings of men aged 30 to 39

2019: $49,540

1989: $50,680

Change: -$1,140

Percent change: -2.2

Real median annual earnings of men aged 40 to 49

2019: $59,470

1989: $64,130

Change: -$4,660

Percent change: -7.3

Real median annual earnings of men aged 50 to 59

2019: $59,220

1989: $61,820

Change: -$2,600

Percent change: -4.2

Fortunately for the nation's families, the real median earnings of women increased during those years, more than making up for men's losses. The real median annual earnings of women aged 20 to 29 increased by $1,490 between 1989 and 2019. The earnings of women aged 30 to 39 grew by $6,520. Those for women aged 40 to 49 grew by $8,200, and the earnings of women aged 50 to 59 grew by $9,730.

Source: Social Security Administration, Earnings of Men Aged 20–59, 1989–2019 and Earnings of Women Aged 20–59, 1989–2019

70 Years of Work

Everyone is always fussing about the ups and downs of women's labor force participation rate. But in fact, men's labor force participation has changed just as dramatically over the years. Let's take a look at the 70-year trend detailed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its latest edition of Women in the Labor Force: A Databook.

Labor force participation rate of men and women aged 16 or older, 1950-2020

	Men	Women	PP difference
2020	67.7%	56.2%	11.5
2019	69.2%	57.4%	11.8
2010	71.2%	58.6%	12.6
2000	74.8%	59.9%	14.9
1990	76.4%	57.5%	18.9
1980	77.4%	51.5%	25.9
1970	79.7%	43.3%	36.4
1960	83.3%	37.7%	45.6
1950	86.4%	33.9%	52.5

Men's labor force participation rate has been falling steadily for the past 70 years. Women's labor force participation rate increased during most of the time period, reaching a peak of 60.0 percent in 1999 (not shown in table). Since the 1999 peak, women's labor force participation rate has fallen by 3.8 percentage points. Men's labor force participation rate fell by a larger 7.0 percentage points.  

The gap in the labor force participation rate between men and women has been shrinking for the entire 70-year period. It was just 11.5 percentage points in 2020, down from a whopping 52.5 percentage points in 1950. 

In the first year of the pandemic (2020), men's labor force participation rate fell by 1.5 percentage points. Women's labor force participation rate fell by a slightly smaller 1.2 percentage points. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Women in the Labor Force: A Databook

Record Increase in College Grads in 2010s

American educational attainment soared in the 2010s. The share of the population aged 25 or older with a bachelor's degree grew by 7.6 percentage points between 2010 and 2020—from 29.9 to 37.5 percent. This is a bigger increase than in any other decade. The share grew by another 0.4 percentage points in 2021 and now stands at 37.9 percent.  

Percent of population aged 25-plus with a bachelor's degree, 1970 to 2021

2021: 37.9%

2020: 37.5%

2010: 29.9%

2000: 25.6%

1990: 21.3%

1980: 17.0%

1970: 11.0%

Behind the big gain was the record-breaking rise in the share of women with a bachelor's degree—up 8.7 percentage-points between 2010 and 2020. Men's 6.4 percentage-point gain during the 2010s was less than their 6.8 percentage-point gain during the 1980s. 

Women are now more likely than men to have a bachelor's degree, a threshold crossed in 2014. As of 2021, fully 39.1 percent of women and 36.6 percent of men are college graduates.

Percent of men and women aged 25-plus with a bachelor's degree, 2000 to 2021

	Men	Women
2021	36.6%	39.1%
2020	36.7%	38.3%
2010	30.3%	29.6%
2000	27.8%	23.6%

Women in 2021 are 2.5 percentage points more likely than men to have a bachelor's degree. In 2000, women were 4.2 percentage points less likely than men to be college graduates.

Source: Census Bureau, CPS Historical Time Series Tables

Median Earnings by Educational Attainment, 2020

According to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, men who worked full-time, year-round in 2020 earned a median of $63,678—half earned more and half earned less. Here are the medians for men by educational attainment...

Median earnings of men who work full-time by educational attainment, 2020

  $36,423: less than 9th grade

  $37,413: 9th to 12th grade, no diploma

  $49,661: high school graduate only

  $56,267: some college, no degree

  $61,100: associate's degree

  $81,339: bachelor's degree

$101,130: master's degree

$131,268: doctoral degree

$150,509: professional degree

 

Among all women who work full-time, year-round, median earnings were $51,869 in 2020. Median earnings ranged from a low of $26,591 for women with less than a 9th grade education to a high of $110,717 for women with a professional degree.

Source: Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables: People

Educational Attainment in 2020

It used to be that men were much more likely than women to have a bachelor's degree. You can see this history in the educational attainment of men and women aged 70 or older today. There is a hefty 10 percentage-point gap in bachelor's degree attainment between older men and women. Over the decades, women not only caught up to men in the pursuit of a college degree but surpassed them. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, women are 9 percentage points more likely than men to have a bachelor's degree—almost as big a gap as among those aged 70 or older, but in the opposite direction. 

Percent of people aged 25 or older with a bachelor's degree or more education by age and sex, and percentage point difference between women and men, 2020

	total	men	women	difference
Aged 25-plus	37.5%	36.7%	38.3%	1.7
Aged 25 to 29	39.2	34.7	43.8	9.0
Aged 30 to 34	43.0	38.7	47.4	8.7
Aged 35 to 39	43.4	40.2	46.6	6.4
Aged 40 to 44	40.9	37.5	44.2	6.7
Aged 45 to 49	41.1	38.5	43.5	5.0
Aged 50 to 54	38.6	36.9	40.2	3.3
Aged 55 to 59	33.6	33.3	33.9	0.6
Aged 60 to 64	32.6	32.5	32.7	0.3
Aged 65 to 69	35.3	37.0	33.8	-3.1
Aged 70 to 74	34.5	39.9	29.7	-10.2
Aged 75-plus	29.6	35.3	25.3	-10.0

Source: Census Bureau, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2020

Delusions of Grandeur

"How would you describe your own personal weight situation right now?" When asked this question, only 41 percent of the American public admits to being overweight, according to a 2020 Gallup survey. 

The National Center for Health Statistics would beg to disagree. According to the measured height and weight of a representative sample of the population, nearly three out of four American adults are overweight...

Percent who are overweight

Fantasy: 41%

Reality: 73%

Men reported weighing an average of 200 pounds, Gallup notes. Women reported weighing 162 pounds. Men are right on the money. The National Center for Health Statistics measures men's average weight at 198 pounds. Women are shy of the mark, however. Their measured weight is an average of 171 pounds—significantly greater than their self-reported 162.

The percentage of men who want to lose weight and are seriously trying to do so was unchanged in 2020, Gallup reports. Not so for women. Although the 59 percent majority of women would like to lose weight, just 23 percent said they had been seriously trying to do so in the past year—the smallest percentage on record. 

Source: Gallup, Americans' Average Weight Holds Steady in 2020

Fewer Claiming Early Social Security Benefits

The percentage of older men and women who claim Social Security benefits at age 62—the earliest possible age to begin receiving retired-worker benefits—has dropped steeply over the past two decades. Behind the decline is the greater labor force participation of older Americans, according to an analysis by Patrick J. Purcell of the Social Security Administration. The labor force participation rate of men aged 60 to 64 grew from 53 to 63 percent between 1995 and 2018, while the labor force participation of their female counterparts climbed from 38 to 52 percent.

Among 62-year-old men, the rate of Social Security claiming fell from 44.1 percent in the 1995–99 time period to just 22.1 percent in 2015–18. Among 62-year-old women, the figure fell from 49.4 to just 24.6 percent during those years. Apparently, older Americans are getting the message—the longer they wait to claim Social Security, the bigger their monthly benefit.

As early claiming has declined, there has been a surge in claiming at age 66—deemed Full Retirement Age (or FRA) by the Social Security Administration for those born between 1943 and 1954. Among 66-year-olds in 2015–18, the rate of claiming was 55.7 percent for men and 48.0 percent for women. These figures are up sharply from the 28.2 and 27.7 percent, respectively, of 1995–99.

Purcell notes in his analysis that "trends in retirement age—and in the age at which individuals claim Social Security benefits—can change substantially in a short time." We're about to see just how rapidly claiming rates can change. As older workers lose their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, early claiming of Social Security benefits may become more popular again.

Source: Social Security Administration, Employment at Older Ages and Social Security Benefit Claiming, 1980–2018

Women Who Earn $100,000 or More

Among the 48 million women who work full-time, year-round, 1.4 million had median earnings of $100,000 or more, according to the Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey. These high earners account for just 3 percent of all women who work full-time. Among men who work full-time, 10 percent have median earnings of $100,000 or more.

Women's median earnings surpass $100,000 in 19 occupations. Men's median earnings top $100,000 in 44 occupations.

Among the 19 occupations in which women earn a median of $100,000 or more, 12 are in the health care field. Number one is emergency medicine physician. Here are all 19...

Occupations in which women who work full-time earn a median of $100,000 or more
$250,000 or more: Emergency medicine physician
$237,500: Surgeon
$226,554: Radiologist
$180,500: Other physician
$160,778: Nurse anesthetist
$149,310: Dentist
$131,819: Architectural/engineering manager
$120,857: Pharmacist
$120,703: Actuary
$120,420: Podiatrist
$112,862: Chief executive
$110,619: Lawyer
$103,570: Physician assistant
$101,863: Nurse practitioner
$101,454: Mathematician
$101,141: Nurse midwife
$100,852: Optometrist
$100,131: Computer and information systems manager
$100,089: Computer hardware engineer

Source: Census Bureau, Full-Time, Year-Round Workers and Median Earnings

Husbands and Wives More Likely to Share Chores

Wives are still more likely than husbands to do the laundry, prepare meals, and clean the house, according to a Gallup survey. When asked "Who is more likely to do each of the following in your household?" this is what heterosexual married couples report...

Laundry
58% wife more likely
28% both equally
13% husband more likely

Preparing meals
51% wife more likely
32% both equally
17% husband more likely

Cleaning the house
51% wife more likely
37% both equally
9% husband more likely

But responsibility for these chores is divided more equitably in 2019 than it was a quarter century ago. The percentage of married couples in which the wife is more likely to do the laundry fell from 70 percent in 1996 to 58 percent today. The percentage of married couples in which the wife is more likely to prepare meals fell from 63 to 51 percent. For housecleaning, 60 percent of wives were more likely to do the cleaning in 1996 and 51 percent today.

While wives are still more likely than husbands to perform traditional household chores, a Demo Memo analysis of American Time Use data (Who Does More, Men or Women?) has shown that there is near equity in the amount of daily time men and women devote to the combination of housework, paid work, and childcare. Men spend an average of 5.60 hours per day performing these tasks and women 5.35.

Source: Gallup, Women Still Handle Main Household Tasks in U.S.

Labor Force Participation Rates, 1948 to 2018

The lives of men and women were vastly different in 1948. Only 1 in 3 women was in the labor force in those post-war years compared with nearly 9 of of 10 men. Today, the lives of men and women are much more similar. The gap in the labor force participation rate between women and men has fallen from nearly 54 to just 12 percentage points over the past seven decades.

Women's labor force participation rate peaked in 1999 at 60.0 percent. It has fallen slightly in recent years because the large baby-boom generation is retiring. Some of the recent decline in men's labor force participation rate is for the same reason.

Labor force participation rate by sex, 1948 to 2018

	women	men
2018	57.1%	69.1%
2008	59.5	73.0
1998	59.8	74.9
1988	56.6	76.2
1978	50.0	77.9
1968	41.6	80.1
1958	37.1	84.2
1948	32.7	86.6

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Women in the Labor Force: a Databook

Who Thinks Their Mental Health Is Excellent?

When asked how mentally healthy they are, 43 percent of Americans aged 18 or older say their mental health is "excellent," according to a 2019 Gallup survey. Feeling good about mental health rises with age...

Percent saying mental health is "excellent"
Aged 18 to 34: 39%
Aged 35 to 54: 43%
Aged 55-plus: 47%

Men are more positive than women about their mental health—49 percent of men and 37 percent of women say they have excellent mental health. Republicans are more likely than any other demographic segment to believe they are at the top of their game. Fully 56 percent of Republicans say they have excellent mental health. Among Democrats, only 30 percent feel that way.

Source: Gallup, 71% of U.S. Adults Rate Mental, Physical Health Positively, Final Topline

Struggling to Sleep, Many Take Medications

Millions of Americans frequently take a medication to help them fall or stay asleep, according to the National Health Interview Survey. Overall, 8.2 percent of adults aged 18 or older took a sleep medication four or more times in the past week. Women are more likely than men to use sleep medications frequently—9.7 percent of women versus 6.6 percent of men. Frequent use of sleep medications rises with age...

Percent of women who took a sleep medication 4 or more times in past week
Aged 18 to 44: 5.8%
Aged 45 to 64: 12.7%
Aged 65-plus: 13.2%

Source: CDC, Percentage of Adults Aged ≥ 18 Who Took Medication to Help Them Fall or Stay Asleep Four or More Times in the Past Week, by Sex and Age Group—National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2017–2018

This Year, Just Say No to Dessert

Why now, Gallup? Just as the holiday season commences, Gallup again releases the results of a survey that reminds us to watch our weight—as it does every year at this time. The percentage of Americans aged 18 or older who weigh 200 or more pounds is climbing, Gallup notes in this year's release, rising from 24 percent in the 2001–09 time period to 28 percent in 2010–19. Evidently, no one is paying attention to Gallup's annual reminder to watch our weight. Among men, 42 percent weigh at least 200 pounds, up from 38 percent a decade ago. Among women, the share rose from 12 to 14 percent.

Weight distribution of American men in 2010–19
1%: 124 pounds or less
7%: 125 to 149 pounds
23%: 150 to 174 pounds
25%: 175 to 199 pounds
42%: 200 pounds or more

Weight distribution of American women in 2010–19
14%: 124 pounds or less
28%: 125 to 149 pounds
24%: 150 to 174 pounds
13%: 175 to 199 pounds
14%: 200 pounds or more

Despite the fact that we are getting fatter, Americans are less likely to think they are overweight in the 2010–19 time period than in the 2001–09 decade. The percentage who think they are somewhat or very overweight fell from 41 to 38 percent during those years. The percentage who say their weight is about right increased from 53 to 56 percent. This is fantasy. Here are the facts, according to actual measurements of height and weight taken by the National Center for Health Statistics: 71 percent of adults are overweight and just 28 percent are "about right," or what NCHS calls normal weight.

As we normalize our expanding girth, it's not surprising that our ideal weight is also rising. Among women, ideal weight climbed from 137 to 140 pounds between 2001–09 and 2010–19, Gallup reports. Among men, the ideal rose from 158 to 160 pounds. Perhaps consequently, fewer say they want to lose weight. Among women, 60 percent said they wanted to lose weight in 2010–19, down from 65 percent in 2001–09. Among men, the percentage who want to lose weight fell from 59 to 54 percent.

Source: Gallup, More Americans Say They Weigh 200 Lbs. or More This Decade

Women's Median Age at First Marriage Rises to 28.0

The median age at which women marry for the first time reached a new high of 28.0 in 2019, according to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. The median age at which men marry held steady at its all-time high of 29.8. Here is the trend since 2000...

Women: median age at first marriage
2019: 28.0
2018: 27.8
2015: 27.1
2010: 26.1
2005: 25.3
2000: 25.1

Men: median age at first marriage
2019: 29.8
2018: 29.8
2015: 29.2
2010: 28.2
2005: 27.1
2000: 26.8

The lowest median age at first marriage was recorded in 1956, when women married for the first time at 20.1 and men at 22.5.

Source: Census Bureau, Historical Marital Status Tables

Most Working Women Want to Work

Overall, 56 percent of women aged 18 or older would prefer to have a job outside the home rather than stay at home and take care of house and family, according to a Gallup survey. This is the largest percentage of women expressing a preference for work in all the years Gallup has asked the question, first posed in 1992. Among men, 75 percent say they would rather work than be a homemaker.

Among women with children under age 18, most of those who are employed (57 percent) prefer to work rather than be a homemaker. Most of those who are not employed (67 percent) prefer to be a homemaker rather than have a job outside the home.

Here's the percentage of adults who would prefer to work outside the home rather than stay at home and care for house and family...

Percent of women who prefer working to homemaking
75% of employed women, no children under 18
57% of employed women with children under 18
51% of women who are not employed, no children under 18
30% of women who are not employed, with children under 18

Percent of men who prefer working to homemaking
85% of employed men, no children under 18
73% of employed men with children under 18
69% of men who are not employed, no children under 18
58% of men who are not employed, with children under 18

Fully 42 percent of men who are not employed and have children under age 18 would prefer being a homemaker to working outside the home.

Source: Gallup, Record-High 56% of U.S. Women Prefer Working to Homemaking

Thank God It's Friday

TGIF! You know the feeling. You know it because you've lived it over and over again—about 1,400 times by the time you're in your fifties. That's the average number of weeks Americans are employed from the age of 18 until they are 52.

This somewhat unsettling thought comes from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a Bureau of Labor Statistics effort that has been tracking people born from 1957 through 1964 for decades. The cohort was first interviewed when they were aged 14 to 22. At the latest interview, conducted in 2016–17, they were aged 51 to 60. These folks had been employed for 78 percent of all the weeks they had lived since the age of 18. That's about 1,400 TGIF moments.

There are differences by demographic characteristic, of course. Men spent 84 percent of all those weeks employed and women 72 percent. Among men by educational attainment, the share of weeks spent at work between the ages of 18 and 52 ranged from a low of 69 percent for those without a high school diploma to a high of 89 percent for college graduates. Women without a high school diploma had worked only 45 percent of the weeks since they were age 18. Women with a bachelor's degree or more education had worked for a much larger 80 percent of the weeks.

The survey's findings show that college-educated men and women have similar work histories, with men having been employed for 1,574 weeks since the age of 18 and women employed for 1,414 weeks. The difference between the two is about the amount of time a working woman might take off to have a couple of kids.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Number of Jobs, Labor Market Experience, and Earnings Growth: Results from a National Longitudinal Survey Summary

Young Adults Are Much Less Likely to Care for Household Children on an Average Day

The time use of young adults has changed a lot due to the baby bust. A smaller share of people aged 20 to 34 spent time caring for household children on an average day in 2018 than in 2008, according to a Demo Memo analysis of the American Time Use Survey.

The number of births in the United States peaked at 4.3 million in 2007. The following year, in 2008, nearly one-third of women aged 20 to 24 and more than half of those aged 25 to 34 were spending time caring for household children on an average day.

Skip ahead 10 years to 2018. The fertility rate is at an historic low. The annual number of births is 12 percent below the 2007 high. Only 18 percent of women aged 20 to 24 were caring for household children on an average day in 2018, down from 32 percent in 2008. Among women aged 25 to 34, the share who were caring for children had fallen from 54 to 46 percent. Men were not making up the difference either, with declines in the percentage of men who were caring for children in both age groups. In contrast, in the older 35-to-44 age group, there was little change over the decade in the share who participated in child care.

Percent caring for children on an average day by age and sex, 2008 and 2018

	2018	2008
Aged 20 to 24	11.3%	20.1%
Women	18.4	32.0
Men	4.2	8.3
Aged 25 to 34	35.0%	41.3%
Women	45.8	53.5
Men	24.2	29.1
Aged 35 to 44	45.6%	45.9%
Women	55.9	54.1
Men	35.1	37.5

What else are young adults doing while they wait to have kids? They are not more likely to work, nor are they more likely to socialize with friends and family. But they are more likely to be in school. The percentage of people aged 20 to 24 who participated in educational activities on an average day grew from 20 to 25 percent between 2008 and 2018. Young adults also are more likely to use a computer or go online—a larger share were surfing the internet and playing games on an average day in 2018 than in 2008.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey