What Do Women See Happening Over The Coming Decades?

What do women expect to see happen over the coming decades? What do they want to see happen? This blog is based on a review of numerous articles and studies published over the past two years and presents the following major findings. This important subject is something we should all take the time to examine a bit more closely. Lets start with some high level US and Global demographics.
 
Global Demographics

• According to a UN press release, the world’s population is set to grow by 2.2 billion between now and 2050, and more than half of that growth - 1.3 billion - is likely to be in sub-Saharan Africa, where women’s rights are hampered by limited access to education, healthcare and contraception.
• The UN has noted that women represent 60% of the poorest in the world, less than 16% of parliament members, two-thirds of the illiterate and are subject to systematic violence, both in armed conflicts and in the privacy of their own homes.

• Anti-Slavery International reports that 71% of overall victims of modern slavery – nearly 30 million – are estimated to be women and girls. Forced sexual exploitation or forced marriages account for as many as 99% of victims, some as young as five years old.

• The World Economic Forum notes that a UN study says countries need about $264 billion - the equivalent cost of 110 military aircraft - to end maternal deaths, gender based violence, child marriage, and provide family planning to all women by 2030.
• According to the World Economic Forum, global gender equality will not be achieved until the year 2221. That timeline needs to change dramatically.

* Read Equality 2050 | The Remarkable Woman and the UN Report on “The Future Women Want”

US Demographics

• By 2050, the population of the US will climb to approximately 400 million people.
• According to the Census Bureau, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics and other racial minorities will make up a majority of the US population by the year 2050.
• By 2050, the female population will climb to over 200 million people.
• In 2050, there will be 7.5 million more women than men in the US.
• Women’s inflation-adjusted earnings have increased nearly 14 percent since 1979, whereas men’s have declined by about 7 percent.
• By 2050, fewer than 2 out of 5 people will be likely to get married in the US.
• Women in the US continue to report they intend to have more than two children on average, but data indicates that women are delaying having children until later in life.

* Read Views of America's future in 2050 | Pew Research Center

Definition of Women's Rights: The rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide, and which formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movement during the 20th century. Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include the right to bodily integrity and autonomy; to be free from sexual violence; to vote; to hold public office; to enter into legal contracts; to have equal rights in family law; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to have reproductive rights; to own property; to education.

Global Expectations

The following are selected excerpts from the UN Statement on Women and Gender Equality in the World and Women Leading the World to 2030 – UN Foundation Report on Business & Sustainable Development

• The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is a comprehensive global blueprint for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Unequal representation in politics, economy and other areas is one of the leading problems of gender inequality identified by all countries. No country has yet fully achieved gender equality.
• Power relations between men and women must change profoundly for progress to be made this century. Heads of State, CEOs, religious and cultural leaders, and parents must all be partners in the pursuit of gender equality across the globe.
• Women must participate equally in all areas including conflict prevention and resolution, climate change negotiations, in community planning, in family decisions, in collective action.
• By 2050, it is expected that all men and women have equal rights and access to economic resources and financial services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, new technology and more.

• By 2050, we need to ensure equal access for all women and men across the globe to affordable and quality technical, vocational. college and tertiary education. We need to ensure that all youth and adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.
• By 2050, we need to ensure that all women across the globe have access to health services and contraception. Lack of access to contraception in developing nations is a key issue that ought to be resolved as soon as possible.
• The world must eliminate the “global epidemic” of violence against women and girls, forced marriage, and other ongoing dehumanizing violations of human rights for women.
• The world must understand and confront the growing conservative and extremist resistance to gender equality. We see this in ongoing attacks on girls’ education, women’s public participation and women’s control over their bodies.

* Read the UN reports on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality Index: Not one single country set to achieve gender equality by 2030

US Expectations

The following are selected excerpts from multiple articles and reports on women’s future expectations through 2050.

• Nearly nine-in-ten (87%) predict that a woman will be elected US President by 2050.
• By 2050, the number of women in Congress and state legislatures should equal the number of elected male officials. See Center for American Women & Politics
• By 2050, women will be much better represented in both the public and private sector. They will be paid the same as men, will be better supported in their home and work life, and the glass ceiling will be a steadily fading memory.
• By 2050, women will continue to dominate in higher education and outnumber men on college campuses over the coming decades.

• Additional legislation will be passed and enforced to ensure equal pay and guarantees of gender equality across the US related to terms and conditions of employment, sexual harassment, parental leave, childcare, representation in corporate boardrooms and more.
• By 2050, women should no longer be penalized for choosing between a career or focusing on family as they move through life.
• By 2050, we will have done away with the outdated concept that someone needs to be in their office from 9 to 5 to work effectively and productively. When that happens, prejudice against working mothers will disappear and it will be accepted that both men and women want and need more flexibility in their work life.

* Read excerpts from What the Workplace for Women will look like in 2030

Additional Perspectives on the Future of Women in the Workforce by 2050

• Many of the needs and practical tools for the future of women in business are outlined in The Women’s Manifesto.
• A study from the Family Wealth Advisors Council estimates that more women are coming into inheritances because of longevity and demographic patterns. An estimated two-thirds of all US. wealth will be in the hands of women by 2030.
• More married women are joining single-parent women in becoming the financial heads of their households in the US.
• The number of women-owned businesses will continue to more than double over the next 20 years. The percentage of female senior executives, business owners, and entrepreneurs who are accumulating substantial wealth is rising steadily. There are also more women in the global workforce than ever before, at all ages and income levels
• Research from the Boston Consulting Group estimates that as women continue to become more educated, they’ll earn higher incomes. By 2050, it’s expected that in the US the average woman will earn more than the average man.

• Women stand to gain in job quantity from future growth in female-dominated occupations in care. However, concerns remain about job quality and poor wages.
• As the US population ages, labor economists predict a sharp rise in the number of care-based jobs in the years ahead. Roles like home health aid, medical assistants, and child care workers are projected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow substantially by 2030.

• Employers will need to provide family-friendly solutions for working people who need flexibility for child care and elder care. These solutions may include part-time employment, telecommuting, flexible business hours and more.

* Read the 2019 Report on Equal Measures 2030 and The Future of Women at Work: Transitions in the Age of Automation

Selected Links List of Women's Organizations - Wikipedia Association for Women's Rights in Development Center for American Women & Politics International Center for Research on Women LeanIn.Org National Organization for Women (NOW) National Women’s Law Center UN Women.Org WomanKind.Org