Women in the United States
Colorized version of Great Depression photo "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange (1936) | |
| General statistics | |
|---|---|
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 18.6 (2023) |
| Women in parliament | 26.7% (2021) |
| Women over 25 with secondary education | 95.4% (2015) |
| Women in labour force | 56.0% (2015) |
| Gender Inequality Index | |
| Value | 0.179 (2021) |
| Rank | 44th out of 191 |
| Global Gender Gap Index | |
| Value | 0.769 (2022) |
| Rank | 27th out of 146 |
| Part of a series on |
| Women in society |
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The legal status of women in the United States has advanced significantly over the past two centuries, but not yet equal to that of men in comparison to other high-income democracies.
In the early history of the United States, women were largely confined to domestic roles. Labor shortages during World War II led to an influx of women in the workforce, which helped to build toward the women's liberation movement of the 1960s and '70s. Since then, women have gained greater visibility in public life, but significant legal and cultural gaps remain.
The United States has never ratified the U.N.’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and has failed to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), leaving women without explicit constitutional protections against sex discrimination.