Every day, Learning Life spreads facts on current topics on our Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin pages. This helps advance Learning Life’s mission to nurture a wider culture of learning using everyday surfaces, including our social media pages. The following facts on U.S. women’s current demographics come as the United States celebrates Women’s History Month in March.
1) As of July 2014, there were five million more females than males living in the USA — 162 million vs. 157 million, respectively.
2) Two signs of the ever growing role of women in the American workplace: as of 2014, women 16 and older comprised nearly half (47%) of the U.S. civilian labor force. Fourteen percent of working women were in management, professional and related jobs in 2014.
3) Women are getting more educated than men: women constituted 55.2% of all college students in 2014, and among those with advanced degrees (i.e., more than a college degree), 30.2% of women held professional certifications or licenses compared with 29.9% of men.
4) Yet women are still paid much less than men: women working full-time year-round made 77 cents to every $1 men working full-time year-round made in 2012. There was no change in this pay inequality from 2011 to 2012.
5) As of 2014, American women age 40 to 44 had on average given birth to 2 children, down from 3 in 1976. The percentage of women age 40 to 44 who had not given birth was 15% in 2014, up from 10% in 1976. Still, in 2013 there were 5.2 million stay-at-home mothers compared with 214,000 stay-at-home fathers nationwide.
This page highlights our past signia surface projects — focused on using everyday surfaces to spread signia, or significant information — in metro Washington D.C., where Learning Life is based.
“Buy Local, Learn Local” Project in Alexandria, VA
In November and December 2013, with funding from the City of Alexandria and local sponsors, Learning Life undertook a “buy local, learn local” project that promoted Alexandria businesses and history museums. Learning Life designed, printed and distributed free “buy local, learn local” wallet cards and tote bags which area residents could use to visit the city’s history museums and to get special holiday discounts to fourteen local businesses in the eclectic Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. We also created two Alexandria history quizzes (see Quiz 1 and Quiz 2) in cooperation with the City’s Office of Historic Alexandria, which we promoted via a weekly project e-newsletter. The e-newsletter also offered interesting city history facts, discount details and the opportunity to win local business gift certificates for perfect scores on the city history quizzes. Learn more about this project here.
JFK Education Project in Washington, DC
In December 2013, Learning Life partnered with Washington D.C.’s Newseum to promote public learning about the legacy of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in light of the 50th anniversary of his assassination. Learning Life printed and distributed 10,000 paper beverage napkins in restaurants in several commercial centers in Washington D.C. The napkin, featured here, posed the question “Who did JFK defeat to become President in 1960?” with the answer provided upside-down. The napkin also invited readers to take a five-question JFK quiz at Learning Life, through which quiz takers could get a discounted ticket to the Newseum. Learning Life promoted the quiz and the Newseum’s JFK exhibits through the napkins, online promotion and street theater in which an actor playing JFK delivered his 1961 inaugural address at several locations in Washington D.C. For more, see Learning Life’s brief promotional video about this project.
Alexandria History Fortune Cookie Project
In January-April 2014, Learning Life followed on its Alexandria “Buy Local, Learn Local” Project described above with fortune cookies (we called them “Smart Cookies”) featuring Alexandria history questions and facts leading to more learning at our website. Learning Life distributed the cookies free in restaurants, bars, cafes and other local businesses in Alexandria. Donations were requested, with all proceeds benefiting Learning Life and the Historic Alexandria Foundation. See more photos of some of the cookies as well as the questions and answers posed inside them here.
Learning Life’s Promotional Surfaces
Learning Life has its own branded surfaces (beverage napkins, drink coasters, fridge magnets, tote bags and t-shirts) that invite readers to learn at our website, with our website address and a QR code printed on each surface. If you’d like any of these products, contact us at email@learninglife.info.
Five Facts on African American Demographics
Every day, Learning Life spreads facts on current topics on our Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin pages. This helps advance Learning Life’s mission to nurture a wider culture of learning using everyday surfaces, including our social media pages. The following facts on current African American demographics come as the United States celebrates Black History Month in February.
1) 46.3 million Americans identified as black or mixed race (including black) in 2015.
2) 57% of African Americans lived in the South in 2010, up from 55% in 2000, but down from 90% in 1900.
3) New York has the most African American residents (3.8 million). The District of Columbia has the highest proportion of blacks (50%), followed by Mississippi (38.3%).
4) The median annual income of black households in 2015 was $36,544, compared with the national median of $55,775. In 2015, 25.4% of African Americans lived in poverty compared with 14.7% of the total U.S. population.
5) 2.8 million blacks enrolled in college in 2015.
Many college students and recent graduates look to volunteerism and nonprofits as a means to gain experience and bolster their resumes. For Learning Life intern John Charles Hanley (who goes by Johnny), however, non-profit work is not just a temporary stop on the road to a career, but his intended path in life.
A native of Virginia, Johnny attended James Madison University, majoring in Justice Studies and minored in Interdisciplinary Religion, becoming President of the JMU Freethinkers and an active member of the Vietnamese Student Association. Johnny’s studies and independent reading spurred his interest in “using research in positive psychology to challenge the way our society thinks about happiness and meaningful relationships.” He hopes to start a non-profit to pursue this interest.
Accordingly, Johnny has taken internships with non-profits to learn about how they work, starting with Virginia Organizing. As Johnny explains, Virginia Organizing is “an organization that encourages those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society to participate in issues that directly affect the quality of their lives,” from predatory lending to Social Security. With Virginia Organizing, Johnny helped organize grassroots events and projects, encouraged Virginia voters to become politically active, managed information tables to engage citizens on key issues, and represented the organization in meetings with local politicians.
Johnny started interning with Learning Life in October this year, working thus far primarily to help inform northern Virginia residents of our “buy local, learn local” holiday program through research, email and door-to-door outreach. Asked why he is interning with Learning Life, Johnny responds, “I volunteered with Learning Life because I am passionate about education as a tool for social change. I want to learn how to bring knowledge to a diverse audience because I hope to one day work to empower people with educational content.”
When he is not interning with Learning Life, Johnny is training to become a violin teacher. He has been playing violin since he was seven years old and hopes to use his expertise to earn a little extra cash and help people learn to play the instrument. But all this is preface to an exciting adventure on which Johnny will soon embark: around April 2014, Johnny will be moving to Cape Town, South Africa to join his girlfriend, who will soon be pursuing international development studies there.
We at Learning Life are grateful for Johnny’s work with us, look forward to working with him in the first months of 2014, and wish him the best in his move to South Africa and his developing career in non-profit education!
To learn more about interning or volunteering with Learning Life and other ways you can help, contact us at email@learninglife.info.
2) Two signs of the ever growing role of women in the American workplace: as of 2014, women 16 and older comprised nearly half (47%) of the U.S. civilian labor force. Fourteen percent of working women were in management, professional and related jobs in 2014.
