The cover story of the July/August issue of The Atlantic is worth a read for any of you who are interested in learning more about how the rise of the female worker and consumer actually came about. Hanna Rosin does an excellent job of comprehensively covering the subject in a way that, to this point, no other reporter has been able to do.
I strongly encourage you to read the lengthy article (which you can do online), especially if you have daughters that will someday be entering the workforce. But I thought I’d share some of statistics from the article that back up Ms. Rosin’s explanation of “how women got control – of everything.”
- In fertilization clinics, reports for “sperm selection to choose the sex of a child” (most still in clinical trials), runs 75% girls, 25% boys.
- A 2006 study measured the economic and political power of women in 162 countries. In almost all cases, the greater the power of women, the greater the country’s economic success.
- In our current Great Recession, 75% of the 8 million jobs lost were those belonging to men.
- For every two men who receive a B.A. this year, three women will do the same.
- Of the 15 job categories projected to grow the most in the next decade, all but two are dominated by women.
Statistics like these, combined with the socio-economic and cultural shifts that trend toward a matriarchal society, mean that just about every tradition – from fatherhood to breadwinner to bill payer – is changing in a big way.
Just something to think about over your morning coffee… and something to start preparing for in planning ahead for the future of your business.
