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A Woman's Life, in Numbers

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Legal Status Health & Wellbeing Violence & Harassment Unpaid Work Paid Work

A Woman’s Life, In Numbers is my attempt to map the female experience. Over her lifetime, a female navigates a multitude of developmental, biological, economic, legal, social, and financial journeys. Her life is also shaped by experiences that disproportionately affect her, such as childrearing, sexual violence, harassment, unpaid caregiving, and pay disparity. My goal is to visualize how these experiences intersect and evolve across her lifetime; the negative spaces represent opportunities for further research, questions, and learning.

The map categories were ultimately determined based on current publicly available data about the “typical” female in the United States at a given age. While statistics pertaining to “women” or “girls” are important, they were generally excluded from the map as they could not be attributed to a specific age group.

Note: Research has historically underrepresented certain groups of women. Reported figures may also underestimate actual rates because people define, measure, and label their experiences differently; fear, shame, or distrust can keep them from participating; and vulnerable populations, such as victims or children, may not report at all. Finally, some “Legal Status” milestones, such as Medicare eligibility, apply to all U.S. citizens, not only women.

Sources

Legal Status

  1. Compulsory schooling (5–19) — ECS | 2025
  2. Establish citizenship (Birth) — 8 U.S.C. § 1401
  3. Child marriage (16–17) — Unchained At Last | 2026
  4. Age of consent (16–18) — HHS | 2004
  5. Age of majority (18–21) — Parent Center Hub | 2026
  6. Tobacco & alcohol (21) — FDA | 2025
  7. Tobacco & alcohol (21) — NIH
  8. Of age to run for President (35) — USA.gov | 2026
  9. Social Security (62) — SSA
  10. Medicare (65) — Medicare.gov
  11. First marriage (28.4) — Census | 2025
  12. Divorce (44) — ASA | 2015

Health & Wellbeing

  1. Unique differences in utero (Fetus) — Alur | 2019
  2. Unique differences in utero (Fetus) — Kraemer | 2000
  3. Unique differences in utero (Fetus) — Stevenson et al. | 2000
  4. Unique differences in utero (Fetus) — Al-Qaraghouli & Fang | 2017
  5. Unique differences in utero (Fetus) — Broere-Brown et al. | 2020
  6. Puberty (7–16) — Johns Hopkins
  7. Puberty (7–16) — Cleveland Clinic | 2026
  8. Reproductive years: predominantly pregnancy prevention (15–49) — Guttmacher | 2014
  9. Reproductive years: predominantly pregnancy prevention (15–49) — Guttmacher | 2019
  10. Reproductive years: predominantly pregnancy prevention (15–49) — WHO
  11. Abortion access (20–29) — Guttmacher | 2026
  12. Abortion access (20–29) — Guttmacher | 2024
  13. Women outnumber men in older age (65+) — Census | 2026
  14. First period (12) — Cleveland Clinic | 2026
  15. First child (27.5) — CDC | 2025
  16. Perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause (45–55) — Cleveland Clinic | 2026
  17. Average age of menopause (52) — NIH | 2026
  18. 1 girl born for every 1.05 boys (Birth) — World Bank | 2024
  19. Life expectancy (81.4) — CDC | 2026
  20. First intercourse (17.4) — CDC | 2017
  21. Breast cancer screening (40–74) — CDC | 2026
  22. Centenarians (100+) — Census | 2025
  23. Cervical cancer screening (21–65) — ACOG | 2026
  24. Plastic surgery (18–66+) — ASPS | 2025
  25. Plastic surgery (18–25) — ASPS | 2025
  26. Plastic surgery (26–35) — ASPS | 2025
  27. Plastic surgery (36–45) — ASPS | 2025
  28. Plastic surgery (46–55) — ASPS | 2025
  29. Plastic surgery (56–65) — ASPS | 2025
  30. Plastic surgery (66+) — ASPS | 2025

Violence & Harassment

  1. Harassment & assault begin early (< 18) — Stop Street Harassment | 2024
  2. Harassment & assault begin early (< 18) — NSVRC | 2026
  3. Harassment & assault begin early (< 18) — Bureau of Justice Statistics | 2000
  4. 1 in 3 harassed at work (25 or 26) — Stanford | 2018
  5. Most first IPV occurs before age 25 (< 25) — CDC | 2014
  6. Sex-trafficking victimizations (12–17) — BJS | 2024
  7. 4× risk of sexual assault (16–19) — RAINN | 2026
  8. 3× rate of rape & sexual assault (18–24) — RAINN | 2026
  9. 3× rate of rape & sexual assault (18–24) — Stop Street Harassment | 2024
  10. Highest female homicide rates (20–34) — CDC | 2025
  11. Lifetime harassment at its peak (25–34) — Stop Street Harassment | 2024
  12. Unwelcome sexual behavior at work (18–55+) — WSJ/NBC | 2017
  13. Unwelcome sexual behavior at work (Under 35) — WSJ/NBC | 2017
  14. Unwelcome sexual behavior at work (35–44) — WSJ/NBC | 2017
  15. Unwelcome sexual behavior at work (Over 55) — WSJ/NBC | 2017

Unpaid Work

  1. Family caregiving (18–75+) — AARP | 2025
  2. 18.7% are caregivers (18–34) — AARP | 2025
  3. 25.5% are caregivers (35–44) — AARP | 2025
  4. 27.4% are caregivers (45–54) — AARP | 2025
  5. Peak caregiving for others (55–64) — AARP | 2025
  6. 23.5% are caregivers (65–74) — AARP | 2025
  7. 18.5% are caregivers (75+) — AARP | 2025
  8. Childcare & household work (18–74) — GEPI | 2024
  9. Women do 2× the household work (18–24) — GEPI | 2024
  10. Household & childcare work increase (25–34) — GEPI | 2024
  11. Work gap slightly narrows (35–44) — GEPI | 2024
  12. Women do 2.5× the household work (45–54) — GEPI | 2024
  13. Women do 2× the household work (65–74) — GEPI | 2024
  14. Average age of caregiver (50.6) — AARP | 2025

Paid Work

  1. Paid employment (16–65+) — BLS | 2026
  2. Paid employment (16–65+) — NWLC | 2025
  3. 33.1%, largely service roles (16–19) — BLS | 2026
  4. 65.2%, beyond service work (20–24) — BLS | 2026
  5. 74.8%, peak professional occupations (25–34) — BLS | 2026
  6. 76.1%, peak employment rate (35–44) — BLS | 2026
  7. 74.7% (45–54) — BLS | 2026
  8. 58.8%, drop in employment (55–64) — BLS | 2026
  9. 15.7%, return to sales & office (65+) — BLS | 2026
  10. Near pay parity (25–34) — Pew | 2023
  11. Steepest pay declines (35–44) — Pew | 2023
  12. Retirement (62.6) — Boston College CRR | 2025
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