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By the numbers: Women’s progress (or not) around the world

Posted at 8:35 AM, Mar 08, 2012
and last updated 2012-03-08 10:36:05-05

By Caitlin Stark

(CNN) — What’s it like to be a woman today? On Thursday, the world marks International Women’s Day, first observed more than 100 years ago.

Decades later, take a look at how women fare in the areas of education, jobs and more, and how American women compare with others around the world:

Health and well-being

86 years — The average life expectancy for a woman in Japan, the longest in the world

81 years — The average life expectancy for a woman in the United States

44 years — The average life expectancy for women in Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, the shortest in the world

16.5 million — The approximate number of women living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 50% of the total number

59% — The percentage of HIV-positive adults in Sub-Saharan Africa who are female, approximately 12.9 million people

21% — The percentage of HIV-positive adults in North America who are female, approximately 252,000 people

54% — The percentage of U.S. women who died of heart disease, cancer and strokes in 2007 out of all causes — approximately 658,000 people

177 — Number of countries that provide paid maternity leave

0 — Amount of paid maternity leave guaranteed in the United States

Labor and employment

91% — The percentage of a man’s paycheck that a woman in Sweden earns, working in manufacturing

57% — The percentage of a man’s paycheck that a woman in South Korea earns, working in manufacturing

81% — The percentage of a man’s paycheck that a woman in the United States earns, in all fields

58% — The percentage of U.S. women who participate in the work force, up from 33% in 1950

0 — Number of female CEOs in the top 20 companies on the Fortune 500

Education

86% — The percentage of girls enrolled in primary school worldwide

39 million — Number of girls worldwide who are not in school, 54% of the total number of children

850,000 — Number of girls in North America and Western Europe not in school

510 million — Number of illiterate women worldwide, two-thirds of the total number of illiterate people

87% — Percentage of U.S. women who have at least a high school diploma

28% — Percentage of U.S. women who have at least a college degree

Politics

95 — The number of women serving in the 112th Congress in the United States

17% — The percentage of U.S. Congress members who are female

56% — The percentage of Rwanda’s parliament who are female

2 — The number of countries that allowed women to vote in 1911

2 — The number of countries that prohibit women from voting in 2012 (Saudi Arabia and Vatican City)