When Women Didn’t Count

Erroneous government-generated "data" is more problematic than it would appear. This book demonstrates how women's history has consistently been hidden and distorted by 200 years of official government statistics.Much of women's history has been hidden and filtered through unrealistic expectations and assumptions. Because U.S. government data about women's lives and occupations has been significantly inaccurate, these misrepresentations in statistical information have shaped the reality of women's lives. They also affect men and society as a whole: these numbers influence our investments, our property values, our representation in Congress, and even how we see our place in society. This book documents how U.S. federal government statistics have served to reveal and conceal facts about women in the United States. It reaches back to the late 1800s, when the U.S. Census Bureau first listed women's occupations, and forward to the present, when the U.S. government relies on nonprofit groups for statistics on abortion.Objective and accurate, When Women Didn't Count isn't focused on numbers and census results as much as on recognizing problems in data, exposing the hidden facets of government data, and using critical thinking when considering all seemingly authoritative sources. Readers will contemplate how the government decided that a "farmer's wife" could be a farmer, how the ongoing battle over abortion has been reflected in the numbers the government is allowed to keep and publish, the consequences of the Census Bureau "correcting" reports of women in unusual occupations in 1920, and why the official count of women-owned businesses dropped 20 percent in 1997.

IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsChronologyPart I Why Care about Government Statistics?Chapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Statistical System of the United StatesPart II DemographicsChapter 3 Population and AgeChapter 4 Marriage, Divorce, and CohabitationChapter 5 MotherhoodChapter 6 Single MothersPart III Women at HomeChapter 7 Heads of Household, Heads of FamilyChapter 8 Housewives, Homemakers, and HousekeepersPart IV Concepts of EmploymentChapter 9 "Occupations Suitable for Women"Chapter 10 "Gainful Employment"Chapter 11 IncomeChapter 12 Unemployment during the Great DepressionPart V Women at WorkChapter 13 The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Women's BureauChapter 14 EmploymentChapter 15 Women Factory WorkersChapter 16 "Farm Females"Chapter 17 Women Business Owners, Women-Owned BusinessesPart VI Women and HealthChapter 18 Nonreproductive Health IssuesChapter 19 ContraceptionChapter 20 AbortionPart VII Women and the LawChapter 21 Women as CriminalsChapter 22 ProstitutionChapter 23 Women as Crime VictimsChapter 24 RapePart VIII Women at WarChapter 25 Rosie the Riveter: Civilian Women during the World WarsChapter 26 Women in the MilitaryPart IX ConclusionChapter 27 ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex